


Concrete Angel

by IShipYouNot, No_Count



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dreams and Nightmares, Paranoia, Ruby Rose is a Faunus, Slow Burn, Weiss Schnee is a Faunus, more characters will be added as they appear - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2019-06-14 18:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 84,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15394347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShipYouNot/pseuds/IShipYouNot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/No_Count/pseuds/No_Count
Summary: A normal life. Apparently, even that was too much to ask for. A fluke. A freak. The math didn't add up, and neither did the genetics. Yet, here she was. Weiss Schnee. The first faunus to ever be born to two humans.This will mostly follow canon to a point, with some differences. Beacon is not destroyed in the first year.Inspired by Broken Wings, by Codyknight22.





	1. Red Bird

    Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the wealthiest, most powerful, and most influential corporation in all of Remnant. Utterly dwarfing the seconds and third largest corporate entities, this empire was valued nearly into the trillions of lien. Though it was not without flaws. The heiress wished to bring back her grandfather's reputation for fair trade, fair pay, and workers’ rights and representation; though it seemed fate may have had other ideas. Though her parents were utterly devoted to each other, in the eyes of the public at least, the second daughter and middle child of Remnant's wealthiest family remained hidden from public eye after her ninth birthday for reasons known only to those who were close. Anyone who would tell this family's greatest secret, a secret that threatened to sully their image, was never seen again.

 

    Nothing was unordinary about the girl in her early youth, acting as any child would. Then, around age six, came the feathers. Small, white and black downs would occasionally be found in her bed, or on the floor, and sometimes in the washing machine. The maids believed the feathers to be coming from the pillows or mattress, until she complained to Klein of what could only be described as a stick her brother Whitley had placed in her shirt as she slept, having tipped the end with glue. Investigating, he found not a stick, but a pair of short, bony appendages sprouting the feathers being found throughout the mansion. He ushered Weiss into her room and gave her a long talk about the discovery, and what it would mean, before inevitably calling Jacques.

 

    “Sir, there is a matter regarding Weiss that... I think you should see it for yourself.” His voice was low, as if trying to hide from a greater threat. “You're never going to believe me, unless I show you. I could bring her to you, if that is a better alternative. Yes, sir. After this, I will take her to a surgeon, if that is what you decide.”

 

    “A surgeon!?” Jacques shouted, clearly audible in any part of the room though the phone.

 

    “N-No, sir. I... I'm not sure how to put this...” The curly-haired man rubbed his fingers against the corner of this forehead. “Has anyone told you about the feathers being found around the mansion? Um...” He took a deep breathe, readying himself for the inevitable shit storm. “Unless it's some elaborate prank, your daughter seems to be shedding feathers. This is not a joke, sir. I already had a lengthy talk with her about it. Whatever you decide, it will be done. Yes, sir.” Klein put the device in his pocket, Jacques entering the room soon after.

 

    “Weiss, please stand and face your bed,” Klein requested. She obeyed without hesitation. She felt her shirt being lifted, exposing the stubs and feathers to Jacques.

 

    He was speechless. Never in his life had he heard of a faunus being born from two humans. He stood and took a slow, deep breath, folding his hands over his nose and mouth. He looked directly at Klein. “Go exactly where I tell you. Ask to see exactly who I tell you. Speak of this _only_ with who you are supposed to see. Have him remove these before they get out of hand.”

 

    “Yes, sir.”

 

    That was only the first instance. Over the years, as Weiss' aura grew more powerful, the wings would grow back faster. Each time, they would be removed down to the root, and still they would persist. At the age of fourteen, she was left with her grandparents for a summer just before one of her appointments. Not seeing anything wrong with the girl, Nicholas refused to waste time and energy by bringing her to a doctor she didn't need to see, regardless of what excuse Jacques gave him. By the end of the next month, the wings had become nearly unconcealable, and she refused to leave her room for any reason, even for food. They tried to tempt her with her favorites, to no avail. Iit was a simple task for her grandparents to enter the guest bedroom, as the interior doors had no locks. They found her sitting on a pillow on the floor on the opposite side of the bed, burying her face in her arms, two feathery wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. The feathers were white with crescent-shaped black marks, forming intricate patterns on the wings. The wing tips themselves were black. They were the first people to ever tell her how beautiful they were, albeit remorsefully. Just as his reputation implied, her grandfather was more of a father than Jacques. There was hell to pay on both sides when her parents came back to pick her up. She was never allowed to stay at her grandparents' again.

 

    “Ma'am, we will be landing in a few moments,” a manservant said, snapping her out of her daydream.

 

    “Very well. Have my belongings dropped in a secure location so I may pick them up later.” Her expression was cold and emotionless. Something she had worked on to mask the pain caused by the constant surgeries, one of which she just had yesterday. Even the mere mention of them caused a phantom pain at her shoulder blades from where the scalpel had made its runs, and needles closed the wounds. From now on, it would be up to her to conceal her identity as a faunus.

 

    “Yes, ma'am. Anything I can get you while you wait?”

 

    “Some water will be fine,” she said, taking out her scroll. The manservant bowed and left, returning shortly with a bottle of water.

 

    She idly scanned social media while the private liner hovered, queued up to land. After some time blindly scrolling, a story that randomly popped up caught her eye. From the thumbnail and title, someone had tried to rob a bank and was stopped by someone wielding a scythe. Tapping the video without looking at the source, Vale News Network's logo and intro music filled the screen.

 

    “This is Lisa Lavender, with a special report,” a lavender-haired reporter with amber eyes and a purple suit began. “Professional thief, Roman Torchwick has officially been booked for 423 years in a maximum-security prison for one count grand theft auto, 23 counts armed robbery, one count assault on a minor, 3 counts aggravated assault, 2 counts attempted murder, and 10 counts grand larceny, on top of other crimes he had failed to serve time for.” Weiss' jaw dropped at the laundry list of charges that scrolled across the screen. “The individual who stopped Torchwick has requested she remain nameless, but we do know she was a student at Signal Academy and had stopped by 1st 3rd Bank of Vale to withdraw funds for the new school year. Here, you can see people waiting in line to be served. Notice the girl third in line.”

 

A red circle was drawn around a small avian faunus with wings that faded from red to black turning her attention to the front door a split second before Torchwick and some henchmen came bursting into shot. While the henchmen drew SMGs and got everyone to lay on the ground, Torchwick went straight to the front desk, making demands before immediately being brought to the safe. The faunus saw this as her chance. Though she drew the attention of one of the henchmen, it was a simple task for her to disarm and subdue the closest, by clobbering his head with a large scythe. She quickly moved on to the others, one being thrown through a window. Torchwick returned and held out his cigar as if saying something before dropping it to the floor and putting it out with his cane. The room cleared in seconds, leaving the two combatants to each other with no civilians getting in the way. Roman drew up his cane and fired at his opponent across the bank. Though he missed, there was now a small hole in the wall. In a blink, the girl entered melee range. Bringing her scythe down onto Torchwick's head, the man blocked the weapon with his own. The fight was a lot like watching a sparring match at double speed, each combatant blocking the other's attack. At one point, Roman fired his cane at point-blank range. The girl seamlessly moved from raising one of her wings to deflect the explosion, to hooking the thief with her blade, sending him crashing through the front door. He landed in the parking lot on his neck to the feet of a blond huntsman and Glynda Goodwitch, who quickly knocked him out with a swift kick to the head.

 

The screen switched back to Lavender. “It has been reported to this station that for the demonstration of skill involved in taking down Torchwick, Professor Ozpin had offered her a spot at Beacon Academy, two years ahead of her class.”

 

    Weiss closed out of the news story. She didn't much like the fact this girl stopped a robbery and got a space at the academy, while everyone else worked their butts off to keep their grades high and skills sharp enough to attend somewhere of such prestige. Whoever this girl was, it didn't seem to matter to people that she was a faunus with erroneously large wings. Meanwhile, Weiss had to have semi-regular surgeries just to keep hers from hindering both her image and her family's. She wondered what they would look like, grown out and groomed. She shook her head to dispel such thoughts. If she were being honest, she would like to meet this girl; if only to get a better look at those wings. Still, it was impressive how she foresaw Torchwick blasting her with his cane...

 

    The swiftly-approaching landing pad broke Weiss out of her thoughts, and SDC staff that had been sent with her quickly got to work unloading the cargo bay. On the central pad, dozens of new students spilled onto the courtyard. Many of them were probably friends. She wondered what is was like to have real friends. The kind that didn't abandon you completely the second you did something mildly embarrassing, or started to unload some baggage you had been carrying around for years, and didn't just stick around at arm's length only because of your name. Multiple times, some of her 'friends' had been caught gossiping behind her back, and once her friend circle started to shrink, it shrank quickly. Sometimes, multiple friends would abandon her for going off on the one whom she had caught talking smack about her to her other friends. Once Winter left for Atlas Academy, Weiss actually felt truly alone. Social skills? Terribly stunted, and plagued with trust issues. Temper? Absolutely. The sound of a crash snapped her back into the real world. Strutting over to inspect, a girl at least two years her junior wearing a rather stiff, fluffy cape lay dazed and confused in the pile of suitcases. She was going to authoritatively ask her to remove herself from her luggage, until a small, but important symbol caught her eye. This girl hadn't collapsed into ordinary luggage, but had risked disturbing what amounted to fifty kilograms of nitroglycerine, at ten times the cost.

 

    “What are you doing!?” She blurted out.

 

    “Sorry,” the girl said, sitting upright.

 

    “Sorry!? Do you have any idea the amount of damage you could have caused!?” Taking this girl in, it became apparent that she wasn't wearing a cloak at all, but had two rather large, black wings attached to her back. The sight of them was enough to make envy rise up in the pit of Weiss' stomach before being quickly suppressed and snatching a briefcase out of the girl's hands. “Give me that! This is Dust!” Weiss exclaimed, opening the case and removing a dram of fire dust. “Mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry.”

 

    The girl stammered, scratching her head.

 

    “What are you, brain dead? Fire! Water! Lightning! Energy!” Weiss listed off, subconsciously shaking the dram, creating a cloud that drifted toward the red-winged faunus, who was now standing upright. “Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?” The girl said nothing, but unleashed a loud, fiery sneeze that created a small crater where Weiss stood. She smelled burnt, and was covered in soot. “Unbelievable! This is _exactly_ the kind of thing I was talking about!”

 

    “I'm really, _really_ sorry!” The red faunus apologized, repeatedly pressing her two index fingers together.

 

“Ugh! You complete _dolt!_ ” _No way am I letting this klutz think I know about her._ “What are you doing here? Aren't you a little _young_ to be attending Beacon?”

 

    “Well, I, I...”

 

    “This isn't your ordinary combat school! It's not just sparring and practice, you know. We're here to fight monsters, s-so... watch where you're going!”

 

    “Hey! I said I was sorry, Princess!” She exclaimed, flaring out her wings a bit. The display was somewhat impressive, and even made the younger girl slightly intimidating for a brief moment.

 

    “It's Heiress, actually,” a girl with amber eyes, black hair, and a matching black bow interjected. Weiss had already met one faunus not two minutes on the ground, and she had been hiding her status as one for years. It wouldn't be too far fetched to believe this girl was hiding something under that bow. “Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellent in the world.”

 

    “Finally! Some recognition-”

 

    “The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces, and questionable business partners.”

 

    Weiss couldn't form a coherent response in her anger at the girl's audacity, and swiped the dram from her, storming away as staff cleaned up the mess.

 

“I promise, I’ll make this up to you!” The red faunus shouted.

 

Unbelievable. It wasn't even the first day of school and someone already tried to kill her, and then she had been thoroughly embarrassed afterward. If this kept up, she feared her family would disown her for more reasons than they already had. Thinking on it, it occurred to her people had been disowned for less; such as being gay, or politically conservative. It was a wonder they hadn't disowned her years ago for being faunus, though the situation for a family surrounded by press all hours of the day is considerably different from that of the common man. If Jacques did decide to disown her, it wouldn't be just in the tabloids with their spotty reputation. It would be front page news for days across Remnant. Though, her tuition had already been paid in advance, so it wasn't too terrible of a thought. Although, it would mean she wouldn't get to rub out her father's stain on the company. Stashing the dust in her waist pack, she headed to the amphitheater to wait for the orientation speech.

\-----------

    Twenty minutes, she had been standing a few feet from a blonde with features that made her envious she couldn't have been blessed with _something_ other than these damnable wings.

 

    “Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!” The blonde called out.

 

    Looking in the direction she was, a certain black-winged faunus could be observed waving back, next to a blond boy with second-hand armor. She could certainly guess why her parents decided to call her after the gem. With her back to her, she could tell the girl’s wings weren’t solid red, and didn’t fade from red to black like she thought in the video. Instead, they were red near the shoulders, small black lines following the flow of the feathers. White lines ran along the outside edges of the black feathers running down the remaining length of the wings.

 

    “How's your day going, little sister?” The blonde asked. They looked nothing alike.

 

    “You mean since you ditched me and I exploded!?” That almost explains why she was on the ground in a pile of explosives.

 

    “Yikes. Meltdown already?”

 

    “No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! There was fire... and I think some ice?” If there was, thankfully it wasn't enough to put either of them in an ice block.

 

    “Are you being sarcastic?”

 

    Ruby scoffed. “I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage! And then she yelled at me! And then I sneezed. And then she yelled again! And then I exploded. And then she yelled again! And I felt really, really bad! And I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!”

 

    “You!” Weiss shouted, causing Ruby to leap into her sister's arms.

 

    “Oh god, it's happening again!”

 

    “You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!”

 

    “It was an accident!” Ruby exclaimed, removing herself from her sister's arms. “It was an accident!” Weiss held a pamphlet in front of her face titled, _Dust For Dummies... and other Inadequate Individuals_ , before giving a long, drawn-out speech reminiscent of a pharmaceutical commercial. “Uhm...”

 

    “You really want to make things up to me?”

 

    “Absolutely?”

 

    “Read this and don't ever speak to me again,” Weiss ordered, shoving the pamphlet onto the younger girl.

 

    “Look, uh... sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot,” the blonde interjected. “Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?” How hopelessly naïve... There was a stereotype about blondes for a reason, apparently.

 

    “Yeah! Great idea, sis!” She sounded eager, but it was difficult to tell if there was sarcasm in there. She extended her hand. “Hell, Weiss. I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies!”

 

    “Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blond, and... scraggly over there!” Her voice was evidently laced with sarcasm, but apparently not enough, as the faunus before her thought she was serious.

 

    “Wow, really?”

 

    She paused, returning her face to a scowl. “No!”

 

    A man clearing his throat into the microphone caught everyone's attention. Professor Ozpin stood on stage, ready to give his welcoming and orientation speech.

 

    “I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But, I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.” Ozpin stepped away, and Glynda took the stand.

 

    “You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed.”

 

    “He seemed kind of... off,” Yang noted.

 

    “It's almost like he wasn't even there,” Ruby added.

 

    Weiss silently agreed, though there was no need for the sisters to see it. Ozpin certainly didn't seem himself. Had the staff room run out of coffee?

 

    “I'm a natural blond, you know,” the boy from earlier said abruptly. Weiss could only rub her forehead in second-hand embarrassment.

 

    Later that evening, when everyone was settling down to go to sleep, Weiss had found a relatively unpopulated corner. She had every intention of sleeping with her back to the wall. No way was someone going to find her out because of some stupid printing on the back of her nightgown.

 

    “Cut it out!” Someone exclaimed. Not wanting to deal with this crap tonight, Weiss set to breaking up the murderball going on between two girls.

 

    “What in the world is going on over here!?” She exclaimed. One of the girls had the other by the foot. “Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?” She had to do a double-take.

 

    “Oh, not you again!” Weiss and Yang shouted simultaneously; Weiss at Ruby, and Yang at Weiss.

 

    “Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!”

 

    “Oh, _now_ you're on my side?”

 

    “I was always on your side!” Ruby replied

 

    “Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?” Yang interjected. “She's only trying to be nice!”

 

    “She's a hazard to my health!”

 

    The girl with the bow from that morning snuffed out a multi-branch candle stick, and Weiss took that as her cue to get back to bed. Upon returning to her sleeping bag, she noticed Ruby and Yang returning to theirs together. So far, she hadn't made any friends; only three enemies. She did notice Pyrrha Nikos earlier. She was accepting, Weiss heard. But how would she react if she knew the heiress were a faunus? Probably the same as all the others that hadn't even reached that level of baggage. If Winter ever came to visit, she would be sorely disappointed that her younger sister had only managed to make enemies at Beacon. Even worse if their dirty little secret became uncovered. Nobody would want to befriend a freak of nature like her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She would make friends. The problem would be keeping them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points to anyone who can name the birds Weiss and Ruby take after.


	2. Birds (Not) Of A Feather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!IMPORTANT!!!
> 
> This chapter is out a little early because of RTX, where I will not have my computer available (and the doc is so large, it lags my phone, making a post iffy at best.) The next chapter is expected to be published on Saturday, August 18th, and subsequent chapters will be published bi-weekly until I've caught up with what's already written. Afterward, all chapters will be uploaded as they are finished. Hopefully, I will be able to continue posting chapters within an acceptable time frame.
> 
> Hopefully, the fight scenes are written okay.

Weiss blinked. She found herself in an area similar to her old bedroom, back in Atlas. It was almost a perfect copy, but there was something different that she couldn’t place. Walking over to her dresser, she opened Myrtenaster’s case to find the blade sitting pretty, not a speck of dust or dirt on the gleaming titanium alloy. Flaring the blade off to the side, she faced her reflection, giving a sharp gasp and stumbling backward upon finding the image had folded its arms, drumming the fingers of the overlapping hand against its bicep. Taking in the visage, she looked almost like herself. Smooth, porcelain face, white hair tied into a tail centered behind her head, and no scar running down either eye. She was beautiful, and would have been perfect if not for those feathered appendages sprouting from her back. They were white, well-groomed, and looked quite soft, bringing images of fresh snow to mind.

 

“Why did you do it?” The visage asked, looking at Weiss expectantly.

 

“Do what?” Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow. Chimes sounded from somewhere far off. Trying to locate the source of the noise, she noticed the bedroom had become noticeably darker, like it was fading. The sudden darkness made a shiver run up her spine.

 

“Why did you cut them off?” The visage asked, flaunting her perfectly maintained wings. “Is it because they hold you back? Is it because they push everyone away?” The more she talked, the darker the room became, until there was no more room, no more mirror. Just Weiss and her reflection.

 

“I hate them because they don’t belong,” Weiss growled. “In case you haven’t noticed, everyone else in my family is a human. They wanted a daughter. Instead they got me. A freak.”

 

“A freak?” The visage looked taken aback briefly before settling into an unsettling grin. Feathers and strands of hair fell loose, floating off in a phantom breeze. Its grin turned to a scowl. “You’ll just rot the same as the rest.”

 

The skin melted off its body, molting the feathers and hair. The clothes withered into nothingness, leaving a bare skeleton standing before Weiss. Without warning, it swiped at her, slinging blood into the darkness and her entrails piling at her feet. Trying to run, her feet stuck into the ground, tripping her. Spinning onto her backside, she thrust Myrtenaster forward as the skeleton lunged at her, the blade entering the mouth and crashing through the vertebra. It bit down. The metal groaned and warped until the blade snapped at the crossguard, the more useful portion of the weapon falling behind the bones. It turned to face her, cracking its neck back into place. In a blink, it pinned her arms to the ground, Myrtenaster’s hilt flying out of her hand. It screeched directly into her face.

 

“Please… please no,” Weiss choked. A flash of teeth, and she was staring at the ballroom’s vaulted ceiling.

 

Weiss shot upright, short of breath and barely holding back a scream. On the upside, at least getting disemboweled and your face bitten off by your own skeleton was more effective than caffeine. Still, there were better ways that didn't involve having a heart attack before entry into Beacon. Examining the ballroom with her superior eyesight, the one thing she was grateful for, she could see it was mostly empty. The pounding in her chest had yet to subside.

 

The whole time she was getting dressed and heading to breakfast, the fading memories of that nightmare wouldn't leave her alone. Though it hadn't been the first, and it wouldn't be the last, it was certainly one of the worst so far. Annoyingly, they only ever seemed to occur within a few days after surgeries. She made a mental note to either ask the good doctor what they knocked her out with or see a psychologist. It wasn't much, but pancakes and coffee could be what she would need to ease her into today. Reaching for the syrup, a bright-eyed ginger grabbed it the same time she did.

 

“Nora, wait until the rest of us get to use the syrup,” a black-haired boy wearing a green tailcoat said, prompting the ginger to release her grip on the bottle. “I know how you get with sweets.”

 

“Ren!” Nora whined. Apparently, these two knew each other for some time, and could even be romantically involved. Weiss handed the syrup off to Ren, and he and Nora struck up conversation with each other, Nora doing the overwhelming majority of the talking. Her mind drifted off to somewhere else while her fork fiddled with the pancakes, until a waving hand brought her back to reality. “Hello? Anyone in there?” It was the ginger girl. “Ah, you're still in there! Anyway, everyone already left. Unless you plan on sprouting wings, I don't think you're going to make it to the armory in time to suit up at the rate you're going!”

 

Weiss sat, staring dumbfounded at Nora's overwhelming happiness and Ren's saint-like patience. Then there was the wings comment. There was no way she noticed... right? People that do a lot of talking usually aren't very self- or environmentally-aware. Discarding that train of thought, she stuffed her face with cold pancakes and coffee, grimacing at both the taste and how she must have looked before quickly leaving for the armory.

 

It didn't have many people in it at the moment, most of them were probably waiting on the cliff. She did notice Pyrrha, and their lockers happened to be right next to each other. Nora was still talking Ren's ear off, and the sisters were busy doing... something. She quickly marched over to her locker, unsure how to approach Mystral's premier fighter.

 

“What!?” Ruby shrieked. “I don’t need to break out of my shell! That’s absolutely-”

 

“Ridiculous!” Tall, blond, and scraggly shouted suddenly. “There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would have remembered having to count that high... Why does this have to happen today?”

 

“So, Pyrrha,” she began, hoping she didn't sound too nervous, “have you given any thought to whose team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself?” Boot licking wasn't her style, but if she wanted to have any hope of getting with someone of any level of competence rather than pretty much anyone else she met, any low-brow tactic would have to suffice.

 

Pyrrha hummed thoughtfully. “I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may.” Well, there went that idea.

 

“Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together?”

 

“Well, that sounds grand!”

 

“Great!”  _ This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class, combined with the strongest girl in class! Together, we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular. We'll be celebrities. We'll get perfect grades! Nothing could come between us now! _

 

“You know what else is great? Me!” Except him. The blond idiot from yesterday. “Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you.”

 

“You, again?” Weiss asked, greatly annoyed with his persistence. Pyrrha appeared suddenly between them.

 

“Nice to meet you, Jaune!” Either Pyrrha liked this buffoon, or she noticed Weiss wasn't having it.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Jaune said, pushing Pyrrha aside. “So, Weiss. Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day.” Did this idiot not understand blatant sarcasm?

 

“Oh, you've  _ got _ to be kidding me!” Weiss exclaimed, rubbing her temple.

 

“Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed.” He seemed quite fidgety. “So... been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?”

 

“Actually,” Pyrrha interrupted, “I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so...”

 

“You don't say?” Jaune said, turning from Weiss, right up to Pyrrha. At least somebody around here was good for something. And that something was getting a nuisance away from her face. “Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team!” For an idiot, his charismatic personality was evidently working on Pyrrha, until Weiss pushed the two apart.

 

“Jaune, di- do you have  _ any _ idea who you're talking to?” Weiss asked, not expecting an intelligent answer.

 

“Not in the slightest, Snow Angel,” he replied, batting his eyelids. Not an impressive display. There hadn't been printing on the back of her bolero, had there? It was certainly cause for concern.

 

“ _ This _ ,” Weiss began, motioning to the redhead, “is Pyrrha.”

 

“Hello, again!” Pyrrha waved.

 

“Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum.”

 

“Never heard of it,” Jaune said blankly. Not unexpected.

 

“Ach! She won the Mystral Regional Tournament four years in a row! A new record.”

 

“The what?” This guy was about as bright as a burned out light bulb at the bottom of the ocean...

 

“She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!” She screamed, waving her arms about like a madwoman. She hated herself for having to resort to that. Jaune, however, finally got the message, if his deep gasp was anything to go by.

 

“That's you!?” His voice was starting to become annoying. If she weren't partnered with Pyrrha, she quietly hoped for at least the faunus who stopped Torchwick... even if it only meant getting away from this guy. “They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!”

 

“Yeah... It was pretty cool,” Pyrrha stated. She almost sounded bored. “Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you.” At least someone's talking sense...

 

“So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask  _ her _ to be on your team?” Or herself, for that matter, though she doubted Jaune even knew who  _ she _ was. All he'd have to do is look in some random tabloid for conspiracy theories about her and her family.

 

“I guess not,” Jaune said, slumping. “Sorry.”

 

Pyrrha approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Actually, Jaune, I'd think you'd make a great leader!” She can't be serious...

 

“D'oh, stop it!” A real winner, this one.

 

“Seriously? Please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!”

 

“Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick!” She hoped he got eaten by a beowolf. “I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings? Find a place for you? What do you say?” He leaned over into her face.

 

“Alright! That's a bit too close!” She exclaimed, shooing him away. “Pyrrha? A little help, please?” One javelin later, and Jaune was pinned by his hoodie against a wall. Too bad it didn't pierce his heart.

 

“Sorry!”

 

“Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, would all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately,” a woman said over the school's PA system. Weiss didn't even bother stopping to admire Pyrrha's marksmanship as she headed out the door.

 

“It was nice meeting you!” Pyrrha said as the sound of metal grinding on stone echoed in the quiet room.

\--------

Several dozen potential students stood expectantly on square, metal pads near the edge of Beacon Cliff. Immediately to Weiss' right stood Pyrrha, and at the end stood Jaune and Ruby. Between Yang and Ren was the infamous Cardin Winchester, a notorious bully from Signal. She didn't remember how she heard about him, but looking at him did bring vague memories of a news story about a student committing self-mutilation due to the aggressive bullying. Apparently, it got him to stop picking on that one student.

 

“For years, you have trained to become warriors; and today, your abilities will be evaluated in The Emerald Forest,” Ozpin spoke.

 

“Now,” Glynda began, “I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today.” Fair enough.

 

“These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well.” Jaune and Cardin are out of the question. The guy right next to her with the mohawk didn't look too swell either. “That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.”

 

She heard Ruby scream in both surprise and objection. Not that she could blame her. It was too much room for error. If she ran across Jaune first, she'd probably freeze him in an ice block and leave him there.

 

“See? I told you!” Nora said cheerily.

 

“After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you  _ will _ die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene.” All the better to feed Jaune to a beowolf. “You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?”

 

“Yeah, um, sir-”

 

“Good!” Ozpin exclaimed, blatantly ignoring Jaune. “Now, take your positions.”

 

Like everyone else, Weiss drew her weapon, assuming a traditional, defensive fencing stance. She was curious to see how the bird faunus would approach the landing strategy, if she could witness it at any point. The pad propelled her high into the air. So high, and at such an angle, it was almost like she was floating. If she had let her wings grow out, she could potentially glide down and enjoy the view a bit longer. Though, they probably would have made it more difficult to find a teammate willing to  _ be _ her partner. Sighing, she conjured a glyph, and used it to propel herself deeper into the forest. She summoned a few more, each one slowing her descent to a level where she could just stagger on the landing a bit. The sound of a shotgun's blast filled the skies, and a yellow streak zipped past overhead. She swore she felt eyes watching her, and heard the trees rustle. No sooner had she shifted her gaze to the tree branches than  the feeling disappeared. The sound of a vibrating pole echoed through the trees.

 

“Thank you!” Jaune called out. Whatever happened, he was somehow still alive.

 

“I'm sorry!”

 

Pyrrha. Of course.

 

Sensing a new presence, Weiss looked up. A dark figure was closing on her, wings splayed out and scythe readied for harvest. She raised Myrtenaster to try and defend herself from this angel of death. A gust of wind, some rose petals, and the figure dropped to the ground softly, stopping less than a yard from the heiress. It was Ruby.

 

“Heh, sorry!” She exclaimed, sheathing her weapon and scratching the back of her head. “Thought you were a grimm...”

 

 _I'm getting out of here before she actually_ **_does_** _kill me,_ Weiss thought, walking directly away from Ruby.

 

“Wait! Where are you going!?” Ruby called after her, then muttered something she couldn't make out.

 

Twice now, that girl nearly killed her. Clambering through a bush, she was met with Jaune stuck in a tree, and apparently already claimed by Pyrrha. He laughed weakly, probably at his own predicament. Looks like the faunus that blew her up, then nearly cut her head off would have to do. Heading back the way she came, Ruby was lightly kicking at the grass, probably in frustration, or confusion. Or both.

 

“By no means, does this make us friends,” Weiss said, grabbing Ruby by the collar and dragging her.

 

“You came back!” She writhed around excitedly, one of her wings smacking Weiss' back every few seconds.

 

“Hey, wait!” Jaune yelled. “Come back! Who's gonna get me down from here?”

 

Eventually, Ruby somehow managed to free herself from Weiss' grip. Not that the heiress had a lot of physical strength, but that wouldn't be an easy hold to get out of.

 

“What's the hurry?” Ruby asked. The hurry? Their standing was on the line.

 

“I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow. I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your-” Suddenly, the faunus was in front of her, playfully dog-paddling the air as Weiss leaned back slightly in surprise. “What the-?”

 

“I'm not slow, see?” Ruby grinned, pointing her thumb at her face. “You don't have to worry about me!”

 

Weiss looked back to where Ruby was. “When did...?”

 

“Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters. You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed, placing her left arm across the heiress' shoulders. “And after it's all over, you're gonna be like  _ Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool... and I want to be her friend! _ ” Sure. She also wanted to go skydiving from a bullhead without aura or a parachute. Before she could blink, Ruby was gone, rose petals where she used to be.

 

“You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!” Weiss called after her. The bushes started to rustle.“Ruby?” More rustling. She swore she could make out glowing, red eyes in the gaps between the leaves and branches. “...Ruby?” A deep growl emanated from her left, and a beowolf followed, emerging from the brush. “Ruby!” 

 

The only response was the beowolf's roar. Several others heeded its call, slowly emerging from the bushes. She couldn't turn to count them all. If this was the alpha of the pack, she'd be fighting him alone. The grimm lunged and swiped at her, connecting its claws with Myrtenaster's blade and sending her back a few feet. For some reason, these grimm weren't too eager for what, for them, could be a potentially easy meal, as none of the others attacked.

 

_ Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward... not  _ **_that_ ** _ forward! Slow your breathing. Wait for the right time to strike... _ Bringing the blade level with her line of sight, she rotated Myrtenaster's cylinder to select fire dust.  _ And... now! _ She charged forward, ready to take down the first beowolf.

 

“Gotcha!” Ruby exclaimed, suddenly appearing. In a panic, Weiss staggered to a stop and discharged the dust, immolating a nearby tree. The beowolf, not amused, swiped at Ruby, firing her into Weiss and staggering both of them. “Hey, watch it!”

 

“Excuse me, you attacked out of turn. I could have killed you,” Weis informed, putting her back to Ruby’s.

 

“You'll have to try a lot harder than that,” Ruby muttered. She had a point, having taken a point-blank shot from Melodic Cudgel. She reloaded her scythe, and both readied their weapons. Another tree had caught fire, and fell between them and the alpha. The grass also started to catch.

 

“We have to go!” Weiss ordered, grabbing Ruby by the wrist and pulling her away from the fight, the beowolves' howling the only thing chasing them. She didn't know where they were going, but she ran anyway. By the time they stopped, she was completely out of breath, bent over and panting, having to use her knees for support. Looking at Ruby, the younger girl was somehow perfectly fine. Weiss made a mental note to ask her about her workout routine.

 

“What was that!?” Ruby exclaimed. “That should've been easy!” As easy as getting surrounded by a hundred-foot fire and knowing your family would next be seeing you at a closed-casket funeral. If enough of your remains could be found.

 

“Well perhaps if you had exercised even the  _ slightest _ amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!” Weiss exclaimed, pointing to the black smoke plume. It was odd, feeling her back and shoulder muscles twitch, as though they were trying to move something that didn't exist.

 

Ruby scoffed. “What's that supposed to mean?”

 

“I'm just surprised someone who talks  _ so much _ would communicate  _ so little _ during an encounter.”

 

“Well, I'm sorry that you need my help to win a fight. I'm just fine on my own!”

 

“Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon.” She turned to walk away, hardly caring if Ruby continued following her. “Bravo.”

 

Ruby screamed in frustration, and a tree fell to the ground. At least she was going to be quiet for a while. Neither were sure how long they walked. All Weiss could think about was making sure her bolero didn't betray her and expose the sutures.

 

“I don't think we're heading the right way,” Ruby eventually said.

 

“Of course we are!”

 

“You don't sound sure,” the red girl said, stopping where she stood.

 

“It's... this way!” Weiss said, starting to walk in a different direction. She heard Ruby sigh and drop to the ground. “No, it has to be  _ this _ way... Okay, it's definitely this way!” She stole a glance at her partner. Ruby started playing with a leaf, possibly ignoring her. “Alright, it's official. We passed it.”

 

Ruby, visibly annoyed, tossed the leaf to the ground and stood. She noticed the younger girl’s wings extend slightly to either side as she stood. “Why can't you just admit you have no idea where we're going?”

 

“Because I know  _ exactly _ where we're going!” She didn't. “We're going... to... the Forest Temple!”  _ Of course, Weiss. Of course you are... _

 

Once again, Ruby scoffed.

 

“Oh, stop it! You don't know where we are, either!” Her shoulders felt unusually tense.

 

“Well at least I'm not pretending like I know everything!” Her wings flared out again, this time in anger.

 

“What is that supposed to mean!?”

 

“It means you're a big, stupid jerk and I hate you!” Ruby's wings flared even more than when they first met, this time more than tripling her width. 

 

Weiss actually felt her back and shoulders try to shrink back instinctively. How unusual. She’d never had to deal with this level of activity. She couldn't let the pain show through. Then again, it wasn't the first time someone said they hated her for something. She just hoped she'd be able to get through the four years without her team finding out and hating her. Just like all the rest who knew. Instead of flinching, she groaned.

 

“Just keep moving,” Weiss said, turning away and continuing.

 

“Oh, just keep moving!” Ruby exclaimed, raising her voice's pitch. “Hurry up! Wah, watch where you're going! Why are you so bossy!?”

 

She whipped back around to confront Ruby. “I'm not bossy! Don't say things like that.”

 

“Stop treating me like a kid!”

 

“Stop acting like a kid!”

 

“Well stop acting like you're perfect!”

 

“I'm, not, perfect!” She had the scars to prove it. She just wished it was the one on her face. “Not yet. But I'm still  _ leagues _ better than you!” Once more, she turned around to continue toward their goal.  _ At least you haven't been shamed into hating what you are... _

 

Ruby muttered something again. At least ears would have aided her senses, instead of being a burden that would just come back every few months to taunt you. The enhanced eyesight was nice, though it wasn’t without its drawbacks. Nobody liked playing hide-and-seek with her in elementary school. And in middle school, people would walk away from the ping-pong table whenever she would ask to play. They proceeded through the forest quietly for several minutes, pushing past brush and low-hanging branches. Both turned suddenly as a high-pitched scream echoed through the trees.

 

“Did you hear that?” Weiss asked, unable to identify the source.

 

“It sounded like you when I dropped from the air.” Had she actually screamed? “I think I know a way we can find the temple quickly.”

 

“If this is some half-baked idea that's just going to get us killed, I swear, I'm gonna- Hey!”

 

Without warning, Ruby wrapped her arms around her waist, charging up a stripped tree and using a combination of her semblance and wings to assist them in their assent.

 

“Brace yourself!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

No sooner had they breached the canopy than night took over, Ruby taking hold of a massive bird's leg. The mad genius, or idiot, she wasn't sure, had hitched them a ride on a giant Nevermore!

 

“Of all the stupid ideas you could have had, you chose this!?” Weiss shouted, barely hearing herself over the wind. “How am  _ I _ going to get down? You, at least, have wings!”

 

“You'll be fine! Stop worrying!”

 

“I'm  _ so  _ far beyond worrying!”

 

“In a good way!?”

 

“In a bad way! In a very, bad, way!”

 

“Well, why don't we just jump!”

 

“What, are you? Insane!?” Of course. Otherwise, they wouldn't be hitchhiking giant grimm birds. Looking from the ground to where Ruby was, the younger girl had already abandoned her, now soaring down to the temple. “Oh, you insufferable, little red... ugh!” Her frustration was short-lived, as she did find some enjoyment in watching her get nailed in the side by a flying Jaune, both of them careening into a tree. A flailing Ursa emerged from the woods, a bright pink explosion killing it instantly. Not long after, a giant Deathstalker powered its way through the trees, chasing after one Pyrrha Nikos. Her hands were starting to slip, the stress causing her palms to sweat as she slid further to the end of the massive bird's talon before gravity took over, sending her free-falling toward the ground. A pair of arms wrapped around her legs and back, and she opened her eyes to see Jaune staring back at her with a cheesy grin on his face.

 

“Just  _ dropping in? _ ” Jaune asked, bringing his attention to the reality they were still falling. “Oh, God!” He hit the ground first, slightly cushioning her fall.

 

“My hero,” she said sarcastically, checking her nails.

 

“My back,” Jaune choked.

 

The Deathstalker landed a solid hit on Pyrrha, flinging her toward the other students in a heap of what looked like pain. She got up to join them, leaving Jaune on the ground.

 

“Great! The gang's all here! Now we can all die together!” Yang said, a little too cheerilly.

 

“Not if I can help it!” Ruby exclaimed, charging the Deathstalker.

 

“Ruby! Wait!” Yang shouted, her cries falling on deaf ears.

 

The grimm blocked her strike, knocking her back several feet.

 

“D-D-Don't worry!” She stammered. “Totally fine!” Turning around, she shot the creature, only making it angrier as the bullet ricocheted. Sheathing her weapon, she made a hasty retreat, Yang coming to provide back-up.

 

“Ruby!” The blonde shouted. The Nevermore she had hitched a ride on circled back, shooting feathers like an arrow rain at the girls, Yang stopping between three of them, one catching Ruby by one of her wings. The girl shrieked in pain. “Ruby! Get out of there!”

 

“I'm... trying!” Ruby called back. She tugged on her wing again, this time collapsing from the pain of what was probably broken bones.

 

Acting fast, Weiss summoned a trail of glyphs to shoot past Yang, rotating Myrtenaster’s cylinder on approach to the scorpion. Driving her sword into the ground, she summoned an ice wall that caught the grimm's stinger inches from Ruby's face.

 

“You are  _ so _ childish!” Weiss exclaimed.

 

“Weiss...?”

 

“And dimwitted, and hyperactive.” Turning to the red reaper, she noticed the feather had only penetrated soft tissue, but was so massive, the wound could have been as much as six inches in diameter. “And don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose, I can be a bit... difficult; but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So, if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer.”

 

“I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this.”

 

“You're fine.”

 

The feathers evaporated, leaving Ruby with a hole in one of her wings a few inches wide. It sealed up and even filled in, surprisingly, resulting in a bald spot. She walked away, and Yang ran past her to have a moment with Ruby. They met her at the temple with the others.

 

“Guys, that thing's circling back,” Jaune noted, pointing to the Nevermore. “What are we gonna do?”

 

“Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying,” Weiss said. “Our objective is right in front of us.”

 

“She's right,” Ruby concurred. “Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things.”

 

“Run and live,” Jaune summarized. “That is an idea I can get behind!” It was really the only sane option. He ran up to a pedestal and grabbed a golden rook, while Ruby grabbed a gold knight.

 

“Time we left,” Ren said as Weiss' ice wall began to crack under the strain of the Deathstalker's pull.

 

“Right. Let's go!” Ruby agreed, the eight of them making for a nearby hill, where the forest opened up into the ruins of a dead civilization. What was left of them, anyway.

 

The Nevermore overtook the group and blockaded their front, prompting them to split off into pairs. Weiss split off with with the black-bow-wearing girl, whose name she still didn't know, hiding behind a stone pillar, Weiss at point. Jaune and Pyrrha went slightly further ahead, and across the clearing were Ren and Nora, and the sisters. The Nevermore perched on the ruined tower in the middle of a deep pit, and unleashed an unholy screech. She could have sworn Yang said something, and wondered if it was important, until the Deathstalker plowed its way through the tree line.

 

“Oh, man, run!” Jaune shouted, he and Pyrrha breaking into a sprint, closely followed by the sisters.

 

Ren and Nora broke cover, the Nevermore targeting the ginger with the same attack that had wounded Ruby earlier, only she evaded getting hit even once. She retaliated, using her grenade launcher as a flak mortar against the giant grimm bird, even landing a few direct hits. The Deathstalker scurried up from behind to attack her, only to be stalled by Ren and the black-haired girl. She really needed to get her name. Propelling herself to Nora, she grabbed the bombardier by the arm, summoned a glyph, and propelled both away from the scorpion, toward the bridge, leaving Ren and the girl to run for their lives.

 

“Go! Go! Go!” Pyrrha shouted, firing on the Deathstalker as she and Nora ran passed.

 

The others barely cleared the pincers, rolling onto the bridge, Pyrrha taking up the rear. The Nevermore screeched and soared into the old, neglected bridge, wiping out an entire section of it. Ruby was quick to follow up by taking pot shots at the creature.

 

“Let's go!” Yang shouted.

 

She followed Ruby and the blonde to the top of a small tower, looking down just in time to notice Nora back up into the raven-haired girl, knocking her off the ledge. In an impressive display, she actually managed to recover, slingshotting herself onto the Nevermore's back, slicing at it before landing behind the trio on top of the tower.

 

“It's tougher than it looks!”

 

“Then let's hit it with everything we've got!” Yang said, racking her shot-gauntlets.

 

The grimm came around for a charge, bullets, incendiary slugs, and dust charges doing nothing to deter the beast as it destroyed their vantage point. The others lept first, giving her room to utilize her glyphs to rendezvous with Ruby at a higher bridge, Yang landing on a neighbor, and the still-nameless girl slingshotting herself slightly closer. Somehow, in a matter of seconds, Yang had managed to get on top of a pillar, firing wildly at the Nevermore.

 

“I have a plan,” Ruby said. “Cover me!” It would have been great if she let her in on the plan, but of the things they did have, time wasn't one of them. However, it must have had something to do with the black-clad girl. She rendezvoused with her and Ruby at an intersection, with a bridge leading to a sheer cliff face. “Yang is going to cause the Nevermore to crash into that cliff. Weiss, when it crashes, I need you to use your ice to hold it in place for at least twenty seconds. Blake, you and Yang are going to use the pillars, your ribbon and Weiss' glyphs to slingshot me into its neck so I can run up the cliff and cut its head off!” 

 

Sounds good. She had the right tool for the job, after all. Weiss took her position on the bridge.

 

Just as Ruby said, the Nevermore crashed into the cliff face and dropped to the ground, landing on its feet and giving an ear-splitting screech. Conjuring a trail of glyphs, Weiss rocketed toward the grimm, which had started to take flight. Launching herself into the air, she plunged her sword into the ground under its tail, the ice catching enough that it couldn't pull away. She raced back to the others, Blake throwing Yang her pistol, stretching the ribbon across the gap. Ruby hopped onto the makeshift slingshot band, and Weiss used a black glyph to pull her back even farther and hold her in place while she made minute adjustments for gravity and windage.

 

“Of course,  _ you _ would come up with this idea...”

 

“Think you can make the shot?”

 

“Hmph. Can I?”

 

There was an uncomfortably long pause from the red girl before she squeeked, “Can you-”

 

“Of course I can!”

 

The glyph turned from black to red, and flashed from red to white, sending the younger girl flying at the Nevermore, using a combination of her wings and rifle to adjust flight trajectory. Weiss summoned a glyph trail up the cliff, where she noticed it ended at a negative angle. Exhausted from using her semblance so much, she used Myrtenaster and one of her knees for support. The only indication she had of Ruby executing her plan's last phase was the repeated high-caliber gunshots coming from above. Catching her breath, she looked up in time to see Ruby decapitate the Nevermore, its lifeless body falling into the chasm below, trailing black smoke. The younger girl stood triumphantly on top of the cliff.

 

“Well,” Yang paused. “That was a thing.”

 

“Let's... let's just get back to Beacon,” Weiss said through dry breaths, pressing her hand against the small of her back and leaning back in an arch.

\----------

“Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark.” All named after birds. How quaint. “The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team Cardinal, lead by Cardin Winchester.” The next team took the stage. “Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team Juniper,” Nora giddly wrapped Ren in a hug, “lead by... Jaune Arc!”

 

Judging by his head movements, and the fact he put his right hand on his chest, he was greatly confused. Ozpin said something in return, and Pyrrha knocked him to the ground with a playful punch, much to the amusement of the audience.

 

_ If Jaune became leader of Juniper, this should be easy, _ Weiss thought as she and her team walked on stage.

 

“And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team Ruby, lead by... Ruby Rose.”

 

_ Is he serious!? The girl that almost killed me twice, nearly got herself killed twice, and only got us by by the skin of our  _ **_teeth_ ** _... is going to lead us!? _

 

“I'm so proud of you!” Yang exclaimed, giving her sister a bear hug.

 

“Looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year,” Ozpin said, closing his speech.

\------------

“Oh, it's going to be an interesting year, alright,” Weiss muttered, grabbing a towel from the stand and wrapping herself in it, drying her face and wrapping her hair in another one. She needed to check the sutures.

 

“Still ate up about that?” A girl asked. Peeking out of the shower, it was Blake, holding a pair of bath towels.

 

“You're in the shower awful late,” Weiss said, making sure she was covered sufficiently before stepping out of the stall.

 

“I could say the same about you. Everyone else left twenty minutes ago, which means you entered as everyone was leaving.” Her cat-like eyes settled around Weiss' chest briefly. “I think I can see why.”

 

“You're in even later, so it seems you have some insecurities of your own,” she accused, staring suspiciously at Blake's bow. Grabbing her clothes, she marched through the door to the changing area, leaving Blake by herself. This room was empty, at least. She drooped the back of the towel at the mirror. The wounds had closed fully, but plucking out her sutures would take time. If she were caught, it would make for a lengthy explanation full of convoluted lies.  _ I'll just have to wait until tomorrow... _


	3. Professor Poop

The sound of chirping birds, and the sun's light gently woke Weiss from her sleep. Sitting up to stretch, she noticed Ruby sneaking up beside her, just as the girl blew into a whistle, startling the heiress and making her fall out of her bed.

 

“Good morning, Team RWBY!” Ruby exclaimed, excited.

 

“What in the world is wrong with you?” And why was she already dressed?

 

“Now that you're awake, we can officially begin our first order of business.”

 

“Excuse me?” Weiss asked, brushing herself off.

 

“Decorating!” Yang and Blake said in unison. They, too, were already dressed, and seemed quite chipper. How late had she slept in?

 

“What?”

 

“We still have to unpack,” Blake explained, holding up a briefcase, which promptly dumped its contents onto the floor. “...And clean.”

 

Ruby once again blew the whistle, right into Weiss' ear, sending her right back onto the floor.

 

“Alright! Weiss, Blake, Yang, and their fearless leader Ruby have begun their first mission. Banzai!”

 

“Banzai!” Blake and Yang exclaimed simultaneously, gathering beside Ruby.

 

“I'm getting changed,” Weiss groaned, getting to her feet and marching off.

 

“Weiss? Where are you going?” Yang asked.

 

“I prefer my privacy!” Weiss exclaimed, frustrated, closing the closet door. Switching on the light, nothing happened. Yet, she could see just fine.

 

“Don’t we still need to replace the light bulb in there?” Ruby asked. Well, shit...

\---------

While Yang hung up a few posters of boy bands, Weiss put up a tasteful painting of Forever Fall, Blake loaded up a bookshelf with dozens of books, and Ruby hung a curtain, which she promptly cut in half with her scythe. A few desks, night stands, and miscellaneous décor later, and their beds remained stacked in a nebulous pile on the floor. All the while, nobody asked her how she managed to dress herself in almost total darkness. Good.

 

“This... isn't going to work,” Weiss said.

 

“It is a bit cramped,” Blake added.

 

“Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff?” Yang suggested.

 

“Or we could ditch the beds...” Ruby gasped, as though she just had an epiphany, “...and replace them with bunk beds!” 

 

“That sounds incredibly dangerous,” Weiss objected.

 

“And super awesome!” Yang exclaimed.

 

“It does seem efficient,” Blake stated.

 

“Well, we should put it to a vote,” Weiss pleaded, not wanting to fall victim to whatever hazardous, half-baked construction her team wanted to do..

 

“I think we just did,” Ruby countered.

 

“Fine,” Weiss sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

 

Weiss' and Blake's beds were laid out first, spaced evenly in the center of the room. On Blake's bed posts, books were stacked, and Yang's bed was placed on top in one go, each girl grabbing a post and carefully centering them on the books, which had been measured three times each to ensure level. Ruby's bed was the most difficult. Rope had to be wrapped around the frame and mattress, before being held up by Yang and Blake, while Ruby and Weiss put hooked lag bolts in the ceiling and knotted the ropes around them. Ruby added a white sheet, draped over her bed like a fort a child would make. They stepped back to admire their handiwork.

 

“Objective, complete!” Ruby exclaimed. Weiss was just trying not to think about how long it would take for the rope to snap. Knowing her luck, given the genetic dice roll, it would happen in the middle of the night, where she would be killed. “Alright, our second order of business is... classes.” She procured a book. “Now, we have a few classes together, today. At nine, we've gotta be at-”

 

“What!?” Weiss exclaimed. “Did you say nine o'-clock!?”

 

“Umm...”

 

“It's 8:55, you dunce!” Weiss shouted, sprinting out the door.

\-----------

“Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of The Night!” Professor Port, a fat-bordering-on-obese man said, at some point in his lecture, and being overly dramatic in the process. “The creatures of grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey!” He laughed, and was met with a roaring silence from his students.

 

Ruby was falling asleep, and Weiss decided to take notes off the board long ago, thankful her enhanced vision enabled her to read that far. Professor Port was perhaps the most insufferable teacher at the school.

 

“Uhh, and you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now, as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces; and that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses!” He clicked his tongue in Yang's general direction. She gave a weak, nervous laugh. “Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves. From what, you ask?” She wasn't asking anything. “Why... The very world!” A student wearing a green shirt gave an excited cry, drawing everyone else' attention to him. It was certainly the most exciting thing to happen in the class. “That is what you are training to become. But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man. Me! When I was a boy...”

 

Ruby's loud scribbling on a piece of paper was enough to draw her out of her bored trance, and muffle Port's speech. It was certainly a welcome change from his endless droning.

 

“Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man.  _ Peter _ , he told me...”

 

Once more, Ruby broke up the monotony of Port's droning, this time by trying to suppress her giggling. Looking over, she held up an unflattering stick drawing of Port with stink lines coming off of him, titled  _ Professor Poop _ . Ruby made a short fart sound with her tongue, and both sisters started to laugh uncontrollably.

 

Port loudly cleared his throat, getting their attention once more. “In the end, the beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity, and my head held high.” Doubtful. Grimm couldn't survive in captivity for any length of time. “Celebrated, as a hero.” He gave a bow. “The moral of this story? A true hunstman must be honorable.” Ruby was now balancing an apple and folder on the tip of her pencil, making a fish mouth and crossing her eyes. Weiss, trying to hold back her temper, could only scowl instead of lashing out at her 'leader'. “A true huntsman must be dependable.” Ruby didn't seem to be any of those things as she now pretended to be asleep. “A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!” Now, she was picking her nose, and Weiss started to shake with pure, unadulterated rage. “So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?”

 

Weiss put her hand up. “I do, sir!” She exclaimed, trying not to sound as angry as she was.

 

“Well, then,” Port hummed. “Let's find out. Go change into your combat attire and get your weapon, Miss Schnee. Your opponent will be here when you return.”

\-----------

Still fuming from Ruby's insolence, Weiss marched back into Port's classroom, dressed in her combat attire, Myrtenaster at her side. An iron cage with some furious beast in it shook in the corner.

 

“Step forward, and face your opponent.”

 

Drawing Myrtenaster, she assumed a defensive stance, aligning her body with the blade.

 

“Go, Weiss!” Yang cheered.

 

“Fight well!” Blake added.

 

“Yeah, represent Team RWBY!” Ruby shouted.

 

“Ruby!” Weiss exclaimed. “I'm trying to focus!”

 

“Oh... sorry.”

 

“Alright. Let the match, begin!” Port announced, bringing his axe down onto the lock, destroying it.

 

The boarbatusk charged, and she spun clear with a strike, its armor deflecting Myrtenaster's blade, and following up with a backflip and sword flare. The grimm turned back around and paused.

 

“Haha!” Port laughed. “Weren't expecting that, were you?”

 

“Hang in there, Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

Bringing Myrtenaster up for a charge, the boarbatusk also charged, bringing its head to the side to hook Weiss' sword in its tusks and striking her with them. They wrestled over the blade.

 

“Bold new approach!” Port said. “I like it!”

 

“Come on Weiss, show it who's boss!” Ruby cheered. She had broken Weiss' focus long enough for the boarbatusk to give her enough of a knock to loose her grip on Myrtenaster, firing the blade several feet into the air, clattering to the floor behind the grimm. It bashed her, sending her flying back.

 

“Oho, now what will you do without your weapon?”

 

The grimm charged again, and Weiss rolled clear, the stupid beast not slowing down as it impacted the wall. Grabbing her sword, she turned around to face her opponent.

 

“Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-”

 

“Stop telling me what to do!” Weiss shouted. The grimm pig squealed and formed its body into a kind of wheel, rolling toward her at high speed. She countered with a glyph shield, knocking the beast onto its back. Summoning a gravity glyph, she backflipped onto it, then fired herself toward the boarbatusk, plunging Myrtenaster into its exposed underside, killing it instantly. Panting, she realized she should not have been this tired after fighting such a pathetic grimm.

 

“Bravo!” Port applauded. “Bra-vo! It appears, we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training.” Still panting, she flared and sheathed Myrtenaster. “I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant. Class dismissed.”

 

Storming out of the classroom, she wasn't sure where she was going to go, other than to walk around until she simmered down enough to return to the dorm.

 

“Weiss!” Ruby called.

 

“What!?”

 

“What's wrong with you? Why are you being-”

 

“What's wrong with me?” She actually had to ask herself that question multiple times in the past. “What's wrong with  _ you _ ? You're supposed to be a leader, and all you've been so far is a nuisance.”

 

Ruby scoffed. She seemed to do that a lot. “What did I do?” What did she do?

 

“That's just it, you've done  _ nothing _ to earn your position,” Weiss accused. “Back in the forest, you acted like a child, and you've only continued to do so.”

 

“Weiss, where is this coming from?” Ruby asked gently. “What happened to all the talk about working together? I thought you believed in acting as a team?”

 

“Not a team led by you. I've studied,  _ and  _ trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better,” she said, turning her back to Ruby. “Ozpin made a mistake.” Across the vaulted hall was a balcony, where Port was enjoying the scenery. “Professor Port.”

 

“Ah, Miss Schnee,” he said. “And to what do I owe this fine pleasure?”

 

“I- I enjoyed your lecture,” she lied.

 

“Of course you did, child; you have the blood of a true huntress in you.”

 

“You really think so?”

 

“Most surely. Hmm... Something's troubling you.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“Dear girl, confess to me your strife.” Dramatic as always.

 

“Well, I- I don't think Ruby should have been chosen as the team leader.”

 

“And if not her, then who?”

 

“I don't know... me?”

 

“That's preposterous!” Port laughed.

 

“Excuse me!?” Weiss exclaimed, taken aback.

 

“I've believed in Professor Ozpin for many years, and the man has never once led me astray.”

 

“So, you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing just how exceptional I am?” How did he not notice Ruby's insolence in his own class?

 

“With all due respect, your exceptional skill on the battlefield is matched only by your poor attitude.”

 

“How dare you!” For whatever reason, her back muscles pulled at each other.

 

“My point, exactly. I see a girl who has spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted.”

 

“That's not even remotely true! Well, not  _ entirely _ true...” If only he knew; but if he did, she'd likely have to flee all the way back to Atlas. Or go into hiding in the wilderness. The second option actually sounded more appealing.

 

“So, the outcome did not fall in your favor. Do you really believe acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision? So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best  _ leader _ , but the best  _ person _ you can be. Have a good night, Miss Schnee.” He walked away, leaving her on the balcony by herself.

\-------

Slowly opening the door to their dorm, Weiss found the lights off, Yang and Blake fast asleep. A dim light came from Ruby's bunk. Standing on her mattress to see on top of the upper bed, Ruby was also sleeping, and had actually been studying quite hard before exhausting herself. One of her wings was right at the edge of the mattress. Gently touching it, it was quite soft, and a little bony. The feathers felt like a very soft and dense fur. Ruby snorted and gurgled, awaking with a small start.

 

“Weiss! I- I was studying, and then I fell asleep, I'm sorry...”

 

Weiss put a hand over Ruby's mouth and motioned for her to be quiet, spying an overturned mug by her pillow. “How do you take your coffee?”

 

“Uh...I- I don't.”

 

“Answer the question.”

 

“Uh... Cream and five sugars!”

 

Weiss sighed. “Don't move.” Taking the mug, she headed over to the coffee table, pouring the coffee in the mug and adding the requested amount of sweeteners. She returned to Ruby's bedside and held out the mug. “Here.”

 

“Um, thanks, Weiss,” Ruby said, taking the beverage.

 

“Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader.” She wasn't sure if she was lying or not, but she had been unnecessarily rough on the girl the past two days. “Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have.” She hoped so. “Good luck studying.” Remembering something she saw, she hopped right back up and pointed to one of the pages. “That's wrong, by the way.” On her way out the door with her nightgown, she paused. “Hey, Ruby?”

 

“Uh-huh?”

 

“I always wanted bunk beds as a kid.”

\------------

Setting her bolero to the side, she set to work removing the sutures. This part always sucked. She'd often cut herself on the snips, and the forceps were finicky at best. It also didn't help she was doing a procedure on the hardest part of her body for her to reach. Checking the mirror, all 56 sutures had been removed, and lay in a lump in the trash can. There was some fuzz near her spine. Pulling at it, there was a slight twinge of pain as it pulled free of her skin. Taking a closer look, it was a tiny, snow white down feather. She sighed and removed her tiara, letting her hair fall freely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to stop using 3PL, and have shifted to 3rd Person Omniscient, which should start appearing somewhere between chapters 5 and 8. The reason for this, is because it prohibits me to Weiss' POV, which is rather annoying, because it prevents me from writing the scenes I want to insert.
> 
> If you have any tips to better my writing, please let me know.


	4. Dependent Weakling

    Sparring day in Professor Goodwitch's class hadn't gone to plan. Weiss had made the mistake of challenging Ruby to a sparring match. The girl was surprisingly quick, and deceptively deadly in combat. It had been close, just not close enough. By the time Goodwitch called the match, Weiss had only run her partner down to a third of her original aura, while she was sitting at a slim 10%. Her avian teammate had taken a seat on her back triumphantly, much to the amusement of CRDL. They stopped laughing when Yang knocked out Dove in a single hit, sending him into Sky and Russel. He actually had to be taken to the infirmary to make sure she hadn't broken through his aura. Or anything else.

 

    “Honestly, your fight with Ruby was perhaps the most vicious battle this year,” Pyrrha mentioned as they ate lunch. “Professor Goodwitch even said so.”

 

    “And if she says something like that, you _know_ it was good!” Nora exclaimed, shoving a drumstick in her mouth.

 

    “You didn't know?” Yang questioned. “Ruby was the top student in her year at Signal, trained by none other than our Uncle Qrow. I was the top student in mine.”

 

    “If you had told me that on day one, I never would have believed you,” Weiss sighed.

 

    “It's true though,” Yang added. “Perfect grades, the whole nine yards. She just doesn't enjoy being serious _all_ the time, Weiss. Only when she needs to.”

 

    “I had trouble keeping up, and that was before Cardin wiped the floor with my face,” Jaune commented. Cardin could be heard laughing about something. He and his team were once again bullying a rabbit faunus they had learned was named Velvet, a Sophomore student.

 

    “Jaune, Cardin has been bullying you since the first week of school,” Pyrrha stated firmly.

 

    “Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah! He just likes to mess around!” Jaune exclaimed, in obvious denial. “You know, practical jokes!” Why was he defending that jackass?

 

    “He's a bully,” Ruby said flatly.

 

    “Oh, please. Name one time he's 'bullied' me.”

 

    “There's the time he knocked text books out of your hand, and acted like he did nothing,” Blake said.

 

    “And activated your shield in the middle of a doorway,” Weiss added, rolling her eyes.

 

    “And let's not forget about the time he shoved you into a rocket locker and launched it,” Pyrrha said.

 

    “It's not like I landed far from the school!” Jaune laughed.

 

    “Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask,” Pyrrha assured him.

 

    “Ooh!” Nora exclaimed, standing abruptly. “We'll break his legs!” Novel idea.

 

    “Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone.”

 

    “Ow! That hurts!” Velvet screamed as Cardin tugged on one of her ears, laughing. “Please, stop.”

 

    “I told you it was real!”

 

    “What a freak!” Russel exclaimed. Weiss almost wished she had let her wings grow out, just so she could have an excuse to fire them all out a fourth-story window with her glyphs. Velvet broke free of Cardin's grip, nursing her ear as she walked past.

 

    “Atrocious,” Pyrrha hissed. “I can't stand people like him.”

 

    “He's not the only one,” Blake growled, narrowing her glare.

 

    “It must be hard, being a faunus,” Yang said, propping up her head with her arm. Jaune walked out of the lunch room in a sad heap.

 

    _You have no idea_ , Weiss almost said aloud. No time like the present to blow your own cover. She glanced at Ruby. She seemed to be the only faunus Cardin didn't bully. Probably because if Yang ever heard about it, it'd look like ursai broke into their dorm. The curiosity was killing her. “So, Ruby, why is it you're the only faunus Cardin _doesn't_ bully?”

 

    “I already taught him that lesson at Signal,” Yang said firmly, grinding her fist into her palm and giving every indication she did not want to talk about the subject. At least, not so publicly. “He was hospitalized for a week.”

 

    “Wow,” Nora said. “Whatever he did, it must have been bad. Oh, well. Maybe I'll 'accidentally' break his legs in the Vytal Tournament?”

 

    “Nora, no,” Ren said. “That will get us disqualified.”

 

    “Well, that's no fun!” Nora exclaimed. “He'll get what's coming to him one of these days, you just wait. I just hope I'll be there to help.”

\---------------

    “Yes!” Dr. Oobleck exclaimed, drinking his coffee and zipping around his desk fast enough to create small wind currents. “Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie.” He took another drink of his coffee. “Now! While this may feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can be seen to this day.” He sipped his coffee. “Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?”

 

    Weiss almost raised her hand, and noticed Blake perform almost the exact same movement she did, lifting her hand off the desk a fraction of an inch before quickly setting it back down. Velvet slowly raised her hand.

 

    “Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!” He took yet another sip of his coffee. It was like this man ran almost exclusively on caffeine, which would explain his hyperactivity. “I mean, I mean, I mean, just look at what happened to the White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?” Weiss raised her hand. “Yes!”

 

    “The Battle of Fort Castle.” Easy.

 

    “Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?”

 

    “Hey!” Jaune exclaimed. A small piece of paper fell to the floor beside him.

 

    “Mr. Arc!” Dr. Oobleck shouted, directly into Jaune's face. “Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?”

 

    “Uhh,” he hesitated. Pyrrha started making hand signals to help him. “The answer... The advantage.. of the Faunus... had over that guy's stuff... Um... Binoculars!” The class erupted into laughter, while Pyrrha rubbed her eyebrows in agonizing humiliation.

 

    “Very funny, Mr. Arc,” he said, entirely unamused. “Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!”

 

    “Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier.” Coming from someone who wasn't even a soldier.

 

    “You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?” Pyrrha questioned accusingly.

 

    “What? You got a problem?” Not a good question to ask Pyrrha if you wanted to keep your skin in the next sparring match.

 

    “No, I have the answer!” Pyrrha confidently announced. “It's night vision. Many faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark.” Cardin could only growl in response.

 

    “General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep,” Blake added. “His massive army was outmatched, and the General was captured. Perhaps, if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't be remembered as such a failure?” The class had a most positive reaction to Cardin getting burned by the introvert.

 

    “Dayum!” Someone exclaimed from the far corner. Cardin rose from his seat, fists raised. Without a weapon, Blake and Pyrrha were still formidable opponents, even for someone his size.

 

    “Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat.” Jaune's snickering was short-lived as Oobleck shot up in front of him. “You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings. Now! Moving on!For your readings assignment, you are to research the General's battle plan, and formulate a detailed plan of your own that would have won the battle, indicating the strengths and weaknesses of, and counters to said plan. You must also include at least three contingency plans. Papers are due next class. Class dismissed!”

 

    Packing up her books, she met Blake at the door. Her teammate still had a smug grin on her face. “This assignment Oobleck's got us on sounds like it's going to be rough.”

 

    “There are many books on military strategies throughout the ages in the library, so it shouldn't be too bad,” Blake assured.

 

    “Still, we need to include contingency plans, and the weaknesses of said strategies,” Weiss said, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. “Tomorrow's Saturday, so at least we'll have a full day to research.”

 

    “That is, unless Ruby and Yang want to distract us with some activity that has nothing to do with school work.”

 

    “That's true, too.”

 

    The week came and went, and upon receiving their papers back from Oobleck, the group was surprised to find Weiss and Blake had matched for perfect scores, despite using completely different tactics. Ruby lost a few points due to faults in her plan, but still landed a solid A, while Yang barely managed to hang onto a C-. Suddenly, the blonde being top of her class seemed doubtful. The day actually passed quickly, and after checking on her wings, she found that while they were still small and easily concealable, they seemed to be growing much faster than before. Maybe it was just her fear of being discovered talking too much. Regardless, she needed sleep, hopefully without nightmares. Heading up the corridor toward her team's room, there was a ruckus coming from one of the dorms. Curious, she stopped briefly, then turned away, cursing herself for being so easily distracted.

 

    “Hey, wait!” A familiar voice exclaimed before she was knocked to the floor.

 

    “We couldn't have done that better if we tried!” Another student applauded, laughing.

 

    “Just wait... Just wait until the whole school hears about Jaune and Weiss getting busy in the hallway!” Cardin. No wonder. He and his team were laughing their lungs out while Jaune got to his feet. Only after his hand left her body did she realize his palm was right on top of her wing.

 

    “That's not cool, guys,” Jaune said, giving a defeated sigh. “You okay, Weiss?” He offered her his hand, but she stood up on her own and faced Team CRDL.

 

    “If you intend on upholding that promise, I'm going to make sure none of you leave Forever Fall alive,” she hissed. The air around her quickly became uncomfortably warm. Cardin still retained his shit-eating grin, while Russel, Sky, and Dove stopped laughing and held their hands up. She used one of her glyphs to slam CRDL's door shut, then turned to Jaune, pointing a finger inches from his face. “If you tell _anyone_ of this, I'll bury you.”

 

    “I had no intention of telling anyone,” Jaune said, holding his hands at chest level.

 

    “Good,” she said, marching back to her team's dorm. She couldn’t help but smirk at the thought of being intimidating in a nightgown of all things.

\---------

“He knows,” a black-haired woman said. Her appearance was rather nebulous, almost like the dress she wore and her hair were both made of pitch black smoke. Most of her face was covered by darkness, only her nose and mouth the only things actually visible. “It's only a matter of time before he tells everyone of your little secret.”

 

“He's too stupid to know. He had his gloves on, even,” Weiss said, folding her arms and looking away.

 

“Oh, but he does, I promise you,” She said, leaning in, right next to Weiss' face. “The boy can't keep a secret. He must know  _ something _ terrible for Cardin to be blackmailing him. Why else would that boy be in the same room as a team that would pluck your wings bare for fun?”

 

“I guess you have a point,” Weiss sighed, looking at her disfigured reflection in the table. Her diagonally-aligned eyes, drooping mouth and cracked teeth staring back at her. She looked hideous, and the white wings behind her weren't helping. Looking at Her reflection, however, gave her a sense of foreboding, yet this woman was much more attractive, even with the pair of raven wings protruding from her back.

 

“Like I said, it's only a matter of time. Only a matter of time, before everyone sees you for the freak of nature you are, and you're forced to hide in the wilderness as the infamous 'winged wild girl'. Or, you could sell yourself to the circus, though I doubt anyone in the audience would believe both of your parents are human,” She laughed. “Take a hint, and just give up. None of your 'friends' will accept the truth.”

 

“I won't give up,” Weiss said, facing Her. “Not yet. I can do this. I can hide the truth for as long as I need to, you watch me!”

 

“You foolish, pathetic child!” She shouted, slapping Weiss. Her hand was bony… and oddly familiar. “You have no idea just how hard it will be to keep this a secret. You're going to slip up eventually, and they, will, leave you! Your own family couldn't accept the truth that was in front of their own eyes! What makes you think hundreds of people you barely know could!?”

 

Weiss was about to say something, then stopped, turning her gaze toward the table.

 

“That's what I thought,” She hummed, pacing, dragging her hand across Weiss’ shoulder, then across the table again. “It's time to wake up from your fairy tail land, Weiss. You can't hide this for as long as you think.”

 

    Next thing she knew, she was sitting up in her bed, teammates staring at her, wide-eyed. “What?”

 

    “You were... talking in your sleep,” Yang said.

 

    “It sounded pretty terrible,” Blake added.

 

    “Are you okay?” Ruby asked.

 

    “I'm fine,” Weiss lied. “Let's just... let's just not be late for our trip.”

\----------

    Apparently, they called it Forever Fall for a reason. It was still late summer, and while the rest of the trees were green, this forest was all kinds of reds. Supposedly, it was like this from the start of spring, when the trees came out of hibernation from the winter.

 

    “I've always wanted to see this place for myself,” Weiss said, awestruck.

 

    “I know what you mean, but don't you have places like this around Atlas?” Ruby inquired, raising an eyebrow.

 

    “No. Nearly all of Solitas is covered in snow at least six months out of the year. The only part that gets any actual greenery is a tiny peninsula at the most southern tip of the continent. Honestly, I'm kind of jealous of you Sanusians. You get all the nice weather and scenery.”

 

    “You don't know what a tornado is, do you?” Ruby asked.

 

    “Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful,” Professor Goodwitch began, “but we are not here to sight-see. Profesor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest. And I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so.” How comforting. Goodwitch stopped, as did the three teams present. A clatter of glass, and someone started whistling like nothing happened. She procured a jar filled with a viscous red substance. “Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, the forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'-clock. Have fun!”

 

    “I mean, this place looks great, but what's so fun about harvesting tree sap? That stuff takes hours, if not _days_ to collect!” Weiss complained, following her team and most of Team JNPR to a clearing. Ren and Pyrrha immediately set to work on collecting sap. The stuff flowed from the trees like blood, and smelled incredibly sweet. “I stand corrected, but I think my blood sugar's going up just from the smell!”

 

    “You'll get over it, Weiss,” Yang chimed in, heading to a tree. Apparently, removing the bark and scratching at the underlying wood with your nails was enough to get the trees to 'bleed'.

 

    Turning to an unoccupied tree, she picked at the bark, and the tree bit. Gasping, she pulled her hand away to inspect. A piece of bark had wound up lodged under her thumbnail. Plucking it out, the pain subsided, though the edge of the pink had become inflamed.

 

    “You should really use your thumb pad,” Ruby said, turning to her and demonstrating by effortlessly peeling off bark with her thumb. Apparently, this girl had been skinning trees for fun while Weiss was taking singing and fencing lessons. Peeling the bark away, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of childhood memories Ruby and Yang must have had. Surely, their childhoods had to be so much more fun than her own? Scratching at the wood with her fingernails, nothing seemed to happen. “Try scraping the heel of your palm across the grain, not with it. It will help break up the wood.” She did as instructed, and felt something sticking to her hand. Upon investigation, it was a substance the color of blood. Sniffing, it smelled sweet, rather than metallic. “Now, rake your fingernails _with_ the grain.” Doing as instructed, red sap began to pour from the wood fibers, as if the tree were just one big vein. Holding the jar at the bottom of the flow, some of the sap trickled inside, while much of the rest flowed around the bottle, the sticky substance pooling in her hand at the bottom. In time, and with much scratching, the jar was filled. She replaced the lid.

 

    “Ruby?”

 

    “Yes, Weiss?”

 

    “How do you know so much about harvesting sap from these trees?” Weiss asked, watching the red, sugary substance ooze down the side of the tree.

 

    “Well, mom and dad used to take us here quite often, and if a grimm ever came, one of them was quick to deal with it while the other shielded us. They would always take so much home and make syrup out of it. Some of the best syrup you've ever had.” She paused, and gave Weiss a mischievous smile. “That’s why I brought an extra jar!” Raking her fingernails on the wood, more sap poured from the open wound, flowing into the jar.

 

    “Are you sure that’s legal?” Weiss asked, taking a wipe from her waist pack and wiping off her hand.

 

    “As far as Vale is concerned, if you come out here to harvest sap for syrup, you’ve earned it. It’s sort of an unofficial tradition in the kingdom,” Yang said as Ruby replaced the lid on the jar, licking her hand clean. A grimm roared somewhere in the distance.

 

    “Did you guys hear that?” Ruby asked.

 

    “Ursa! Ursa!” Russel shouted, running straight into the brick wall that was Yang.

 

    “Ursa?” Yang interrogated, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him off the ground. “Where?”

 

    “Back there!” Russel exclaimed, pointing back the way they had just come. “It's got Cardin!”

 

    “Jaune!” Pyrrha gasped.

 

    “Yang!” Ruby exclaimed, causing Yang to drop Russel. “You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch.”

 

    “You two,” Pyrrha said, referring to Ren and Nora, herself and Ruby procuring their weapons, “go with them. There could be more.”

 

    Drawing Myrtenaster, she followed Ruby and Pyrrha, sprinting through the red forest. Eventually, they came to a clearing where an Ursa Major was bearing down on Cardin.

 

    “Oh, no,” Pyrrha said. Was she actually worried, or just being sarcastic? Neither option seemed like her when it came to Cardin. The grimm went for a swipe, and Jaune appeared out of nowhere, the boy getting slowly crushed by hundreds of pounds of grimm, until he flicked his shield out from under the ursa, and swiped at its belly with his sword. He actually landed a hit, if the beast's pained roar was anything to go by. She pointed Myrtenaster at eye level, ready to charge forward and end the fight. “Wait!”

 

    The grimm jabbed at Jaune, he rolled to evade. It swiped again, and he jumped back to clear it. Once more, and it smacked him in mid-air, firing him backward, kicking up leaves. Rolling onto his feet, he charged and lunged, the now pissed off grimm swatting him aside, sending him tumbling to the ground. He staggered to his feet, short of breath, and after a moment's hesitation, raised his sword and charged, the ursa rushing to meet him. As he prepared for a swing, she noticed Pyrrha reach her hand out, and Jaune's shield raise to deflect the blow, enabling him to decapitate the ursa, its body falling in a heap before evaporating.

 

    “Uh, what,” Ruby said, confused.

 

    “How did you...”

 

    “Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs,” Pyrrha paused, “my semblance is polarity.”

 

    “Ah, you can control poles,” Ruby said quietly.

 

    “No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism,” Weiss corrected.

 

    “Magnets are cool, too,” Ruby said as Pyrrha started to walk away.

 

    “Wait,” Weiss began, “where are you going?”

 

    “Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

    “We could,” Pyrrha paused. “Or, perhaps, we could just keep it our little secret.”

 

    Pyrrha left, leaving Ruby and Weiss to stare at each other blankly. After helping Cardin to his feet, Jaune gave his bully a short talk, before walking past Weiss and her teammate, leaving Cardin to stand alone in the clearing.

 

    “Cardin!” Ruby shouted. “Are you coming or what? It's only a matter of time before another grimm shows up!”

 

    The bully looked at the pair, then slowly came over, collecting his mace, his pride shattered. He sulked as he walked past the pair, hardly acknowledging their presence.

 

    “Does he have sap on his breastplate?” Weiss asked, confused.

 

    “Smelled like it,” Ruby said.


	5. White Fang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny how you never truly realize the weight of Weiss' words until you're writing them.

“The Vytal Festival!” Weiss exclaimed, excited as the group came to a large sign hung by an aging shop owner, amidst buildings decorated in balloons, colorful flags, and streamers. “Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!”

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile this much, Weiss,” Ruby said as she shrank into herself. Her massive wings managed to almost completely disappear behind her. “It’s kind of weirding me out.”

 

“How could you  _ not _ smile?” Weiss asked as she turned to face her team. “A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament!” She hugged herself, tossed herself to one side, then performed what could be called a short dance as she twirled around and started to walk off in the direction opposite of where she was facing. “Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking.”

 

Yang sighed. “You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring.”

 

“Quiet, you,” Weiss said, briefly shooting a glare at Yang. A boat horn brought her attention back to the front.

 

“Remind me again why we’re spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?” Yang questioned as they came up to a pier, overlooking the aforementioned docks.

 

“Ugh, they smell like fish!” Ruby complained, pinching her nose. Blake, however, seemed to enjoy the smell a little  _ too _ much.

 

“I’ve heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today,” Weiss said, again turning to address her team. “And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom.”

 

“She wants to spy on them so she’ll have the upperhand in the tournament,” Blake summarized.

 

She whipped around, offended. “You can’t prove that!”

 

“Woah,” Ruby breathed. Weiss, Blake, and Yang regrouped to see what she was on about, spotting a ravaged business. The team approached an officer taking notes. “What happened here?”

 

“Robbery,” the detective replied. “Second Dust shop to be hit this month. This place is turning into a jungle.”

 

“That’s terrible!” Yang said.

 

“They left all the money,” the other detective noted.

 

“Yeah, just doesn’t make a lick o’ sense,” the first detective said. “Who needs that much Dust?”

 

“I dunno, ya know what I mean?”

 

“You thinkin’ the uh, White Fang?”

 

“Yeah, I’m thinkin’ we don’t get paid enough.”

 

“Hmph. The White Fang,” Weiss scoffed. “What an awful bunch of degenerates.”

 

“What’s your problem?” Blake asked. 

 

“My problem?” Weiss asked, offended. What wasn’t her problem with the White Fang? They only served as an ever-present reminder she might not wake up tomorrow. “I simply don’t care for the criminally insane.”

 

“The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They’re a collection of misguided faunus,” Blake corrected as she folded her arms. Why was she defending the group that terrorized her family her entire life?

 

“Misguided!?” Such blasphemy. “They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!”

 

“So then they’re  _ very _ misguided!” To think Blake was smart… “Either way, it doesn’t explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale.”

 

“Blake’s got a point,” Ruby said. “Besides, Torchwick could have escaped from prison. Maybe it was him?”

 

“That still doesn’t change the fact the White Fang are a bunch of scum,” Weiss said as she stuck her nose in the air. They only sent death threats addressed to each individual member of the family on a monthly basis, some of which were found to be laced with anthrax and other potent toxins. “Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal.” Weiss stole a glance at Ruby, who looked somewhat offended. “The ones associated with the White Fang, specifically.”

 

“That’s not necessarily true,” Yang interjected.

 

“Hey! Stop that faunus!” someone shouted. Rushing back toward the dock, they spotted a blond monkey faunus with a yellow tail and open button-up shirt.

 

“Thanks for the ride, guys!” he exclaimed as he lept from the tanker’s starboard hull onto the dock. He ran a few meters, then jumped onto a lamppost to hang upside-down by his tail.

 

“You no-good stow-away!” one of the sailors shouted.

 

“Hey!” the faunus called back as he casually peeled a banana. “A no-good stow-away would have been caught. I’m a great stow-away.”

 

One of the detectives from earlier threw something at him, which he effortlessly dodged.

 

“Hey. Get down from there this instant,” the detective ordered, earning him a banana peel to the face before the faunus climbed on top of the lamp post.

 

Laughing mischievously, he lept some distance from his perch, somersaulting upon landing on the dock. Pausing, he continued his flight up the stairs and ran straight past Weiss and her team. He stank as if he hadn’t bathed in days and she could have sworn he winked at Blake as he passed, the detectives hot on his tail.

 

“Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition,” Yang said, “and there it goes.”

 

“Quick!” Weiss exclaimed, raising her arm and index finger, assuming leadership. “We must observe him!” They chased the faunus through the streets, avoiding bollards and pedestrians. It was only a few corners before she ran straight into something very solid, only catching a glimpse of whatever it was before ending up in a mess on the ground. She looked up in time to see the faunus leap high into the air and disappear between buildings. “No! He got away!”

 

“Uhh… Weiss?” Yang questioned. 

 

She realized her back was to her team and her heart dropped. They hadn’t seen, had they? Wait. None of them were looking  _ at  _ her, but rather something  _ underneath _ her. Turning her attention to the ground, there was a ginger girl with a pink bow and an oddly unsettling smile. Weiss scrambled to her feet, startled, feeling her wings spring up in her surprise. With any luck, her teammates wouldn’t have noticed.

 

“Salutations!” The strange girl greeted, still laying on the ground instead of getting up for some reason.

 

“Um… hello,” Ruby greeted, obviously uncomfortable.

 

“Are you… okay?” Yang asked.

 

“I’m wonderful. Thank you for asking,” the strange girl said. Her not standing up was only going to continue getting weirder. Weiss and Ruby looked at each other in confusion, Yang and Blake likely doing the same.

 

“Do you… wanna get up?” Yang asked. By this point, the tone in her voice summed up how uncomfortable everyone was.

 

A pause. “Yes,” the girl said, using her arms to spring to her feet. The group as a whole took a step back. “My name is Penny. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Not weird at all.

 

“Hi, Penny. I’m Ruby.”

 

“I’m Weiss.”

 

“Blake.”

 

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” Yang asked. A quick elbow in the ribs from Blake corrected her. “Oh, I’m Yang.”

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Penny exclaimed, head swiveling to quickly scan the group. She sounded like a malfunctioning robot.

 

“You already said that,” Weiss said. She noticed Penny staring first at Ruby, then Blake, then right at her.

 

“So I did.” Now, she was looking almost exclusively at Ruby. Almost. Every now and then, she would glance back at Weiss. Her heart rate picked up slightly even as she maintained control of her breathing.

 

“Well, sorry for running into you,” Weiss said, turning away.

 

“Take care, friend!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

They walked in silence for a few moments, before Yang finally spoke up. “She was… weird.”

 

“Now,” Weiss began, determined. “Where did that faunus riffraff run off to?” The team jumped collectively when Penny appeared seemingly from nowhere, standing directly in their path.

 

“What did you just call me?” Penny asked, leaning into the group rather aggressively. Weiss pointed to Yang, defensive.

 

“Oh, I’m really sorry! I definitely didn’t think you heard me,” Yang hurriedly apologized.

 

“No, not you,” Penny said, making a beeline straight for Ruby. “You!”

 

“Me!?” Ruby squeaked, visibly terrified. “I- I don’t know, I- what I- uhm...”

 

“You called me ‘friend’! Am I really your friend?” Penny asked.

 

“Um,” Ruby hesitated, peering around Penny to find the rest of her team giving as many signs as possible for ‘no’. “Yeah, sure! Why not?” Herself, Blake, and Yang collapsed from shock.

 

Penny started to laugh, raising her hands into the air. “Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!” That sounded oddly familiar…

 

“Oh,” Ruby began, working her way back over to her team, turning to Weiss, “was this what it was like when you met me?”

 

“No, she seems  _ far _ more coordinated.”

 

“So,” Yang began, “what are you doing in Vale?”

 

“I’m here to fight in the tournament,” Penny replied, excited.

 

“Wait… you’re fighting in the tournament?” Weiss asked, flabbergasted.

 

“I’m combat ready!” Penny exclaimed, giving a salute.

 

“Forgive me, but you hardly look the part,” Weiss stated.

 

“Says the girl wearing a dress,” Blake shot.

 

Weiss strutted off a few feet, then turned to face Blake. “It’s a combat skirt!”

 

“Yeah!” Ruby agreed, appearing beside her. Weiss held out her hand for a low-five, which Ruby obliged enthusiastically. 

 

“Wait a minute.” She approached Penny, grabbing her by the shoulders. She seemed unusually heavy. “If you’re here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion?”

 

“The who?” Penny asked blankly.

 

“The filthy faunus from the boat!” Weiss exclaimed as she held up a scribble on a napkin that she obtained from…. somewhere.

 

“Why do you keep saying that?” Blake asked, angered.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Stop calling him a rapscallion,” Blake ordered. “Stop calling him a degenerate. He’s a person!”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost?” Weiss asked, gesturing toward the aforementioned items.

 

“Stop it!” Blake ordered.

 

“Stop what?” Weiss asked, incredulous. “He clearly broke the law. Give him time, he’ll probably join up with the White Fang.”

 

“You ignorant little brat!” Blake barked, storming off.

 

“How dare you talk to me like that!” Weiss exclaimed, offended. For a brief instant, she saw her father instead of Blake. “I am your teammate!”

 

“You are a judgmental little girl.”

 

“What in the world makes you say that?”

 

“The mere fact you would sort that faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be.”

 

“So you admit it? The White Fang  _ is _ just a radical group of terrorists!”

 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

 

“Then stop with the false equivalencies! You don’t know the hell I’ve been put through  _ because _ of the White Fang!”

 

“Whether you’re a scoundrel or a racist doesn’t matter to me, one’s just as bad as the other,” Blake argued.

 

The bickering continued all the way back to the dorm, but did not let up.

 

“I don’t understand why this is causing such a problem,” Weiss said, getting up from her seat on her bed.

 

“That  _ is  _ the problem!”

 

“You realize you’re defending an organization that hates humanity, don’t you?” What was so difficult to understand? “The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil.”

 

“There’s no such thing as ‘pure evil’!” Blake shouted, shooting to her feet. “Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It’s because of people like Cardin, people like  _ you _ that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!” What’s next? Defending rapists?

 

“People like me!?”

 

“You’re discriminatory!”

 

“I’m a victim!” Weiss exclaimed, stomping her foot. “You want to know  _ why _ I despise the White Fang? Why I don’t particularly trust most faunus?” She leaned against the window sill. “It’s because they’ve been at war with my family for years. War. As in actual bloodshed. My grandfather’s company has had a target painted across its back as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I’ve watched family friends disappear, board members executed. An entire train car full of Dust… stolen.” She slammed her fist into the sill. “And every day, my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood.” Among other things.

 

“Weiss,” Ruby began, placing a hand on her shoulder, “I-”

 

“No!” Weiss shouted, whipping around, facing Blake once more. “You want to know why I despise the White Fang!? It’s because they’re a bunch of liars! Thieves! And murderers!”

 

“Well, maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!” Just for a moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl. We...?

 

Weiss took a step back as her eyes widened in surprise. Blake seemed to recognize her mistake and took a step back as well. “I-” Without another word, she bolted.

 

“Blake! Wait!” Ruby shouted, stopping her pursuit at the door. “Come back!”

 

Gathering her nightgown, Weiss marched out of the dorm.

 

“Where are you going?” Yang asked, prompting the heiress to pause.

 

“I’m going to take a shower. I don’t know about you, but I have more… personal feelings about faunus of the White Fang than you could  _ ever _ imagine.”

\-----------

“Looks like I wasn’t the only one with something to hide,” Weiss muttered, grabbing Myrtenaster. “At least Blake could hide with ease. Meanwhile, I have to keep-”  _ slice _ “Gah!” The severed wing fell to the shower floor with a wet thud. “...Grooming.” Only one to go, now.

 

“Okay, Weiss,” she breathed, steeling herself for the onslaught of pain in her other shoulder. “Just get this over with… Gah!” Using her sword to remain standing, she summoned her aura, the wounds sealing just enough to slow the fountain of blood, but the wings didn’t return so soon. Leaning Myrtenaster just outside the door, she turned toward her severed wings, recalling every derogatory word directed toward faunus in general, the irony of Blake also being a faunus in hiding adding bitterness to her already tense thoughts. How poetic.


	6. Black Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder: This story roughly follows canon up until midway through Volume 3, where it will start on its own path.

“Tell me,” She began, holding a black Myrtenaster, one hand on the hilt, the other at the weak, pacing, “how long did you actually believe you were going to be able to keep this a secret?”

 

Weiss opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately couldn’t give an answer.

 

“They all saw when you panicked, after tripping over Penny. Penny was looking  _ directly _ at your wings. How she saw them? Who knows. Maybe it’s her semblance or something?” She stopped her pacing, turning to face Weiss. “Blake barely lasted the quarter. You would be exceptionally lucky to last the whole year; and after what they just saw, it wouldn’t be any stretch of the imagination to say they wouldn’t be too fond of faunus hiding in plain sight.” She leaned in close and grabbed Weiss by the collar of her bolero, red eyes burning with raw fury. “If you screw this up, you are going to be living on the streets, selling your backside just to afford some fast food! And after all that is said and done, you can forget about becoming a huntress!” She gave Weiss a small shove back into her chair.

 

Weiss looked off to the side at nothing in particular, her heart sinking into her stomach as feelings of hopelessness wormed their way into her.

 

“Tell me, do you hate the faunus because you’re jealous people like Ruby can walk around and not be judged too harshly by most? Do you hate yourself because you hate the White Fang, and by extension, faunus? Or do you hate the faunus because you hate yourself?”

 

“I don’t know,” Weiss shrugged, staring at her reflection in the polished table.

 

“Think about it,” She said, patting Weiss on the shoulder as she passed behind. “We have all the time in the world.”

\----------

“Blake!” Ruby and Yang shouted interchangeably.

 

_ If Blake hears you two, she’s liable to just run even farther away, _ Weiss thought.  _ Goodness knows I would... _

 

“Weiss! You’re not helping!” Ruby exclaimed, turning to her.

 

“Oh! You know who might be able to help?” Weiss asked facetiously. “The police!”

 

Ruby growled and folded her arms. “Weiss…!”

 

“It was just an idea!” Weiss exclaimed, flaring her hands. Her back muscles tried to do the same with her freshly-severed wings.

 

“Yeah, a bad one,” Ruby growled, continuing her walk through Vale.

 

“Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions,” Yang suggested. If Weiss were being honest with herself, she envied the sisters. Ruby didn’t need to worry about being faunus, while Yang wasn’t a faunus  _ and _ had a body Weiss would kill for.

 

“I think, when we hear it, you’ll all realize I was right.”

 

“And I think Weiss’ hair looks wonderful today!” A woman exclaimed, startling the trio.

 

“Gah! Penny! Where did you come from!?” Ruby exclaimed, none too pleased at the ginger’s abrupt entry. The girl did have a strange tendency of just sneaking up on people.

 

“Hey, guys!” Penny waved. “What are you up to?” 

 

Ruby hesitated.

 

“We’re looking for our friend, Blake,” Yang said.

 

“Oh! You mean the faunus girl.” 

 

They all blinked blankly.

 

“Wait, how do you know about that?” Ruby asked.

 

“Uh, the cat ears?” Penny said, pointing to a point just above her head.

 

“What cat ears?” Yang dismissed. “She wears a… bow…” 

 

Now it made sense. If Penny was able to see through Blake’s disguise, then it was entirely likely she knew about Weiss being a faunus as well, if her repeated glances Friday were anything to go off of.

 

“She does like tuna a lot,” Ruby muttered.

 

“So, where is she?” Penny inquired.

 

“We don’t know,” Ruby informed. “She’s been missing since Friday.”

 

Penny gasped, walked right up to Ruby, and picked her up by the arms. The small girl gave an uncomfortable smile. “That’s terrible!”

 

Yang grabbed Weiss by the sleeve, dragging her away from the confrontation. She only heard Penny telling Ruby something about not worrying.

 

“Look,” Yang began, “we can't just go around shouting her name and hoping.” It took her three hours of shouting to figure that out? “There has to be some other way…” She slammed her fist down onto her palm. “Businesses!”

 

“What about them?”

 

“We’ll talk to the employees and ask if they’ve seen Blake,” Yang said, clutching Weiss by the shoulders. “With luck, maybe someone will know something.”

 

“But where would we even start?” Weiss asked, pulling out of Yang’s grip. “She’s probably not in the mood for fish right now.”

 

“That’s why we ask around,” Yang said, walking into a gothic clothing store. Sighing, Weiss followed her up to the front desk.

 

“You two don’t look like the type to shop here,” the clerk said, observing their appearance. “Anyhow, is there anything I can assist you with?”

 

“We’re looking for a friend of ours,” Yang began. Weiss tuned her out, turning her attention to the store’s merchandise.

 

The walls were painted red and black, and nearly all the clothes were black and rough, some with studs or spikes. Piercings stood on display on a rack, and sunglasses and fingerless gloves hung from another nearby. A piano started playing on the radio.

 

“ _ Gnarled and mangled. Warped, deformed. They see nightmares, a mutant swarm. _ ” Even the music was goth. At least they knew their target market. “ _ I see beauty, underneath. I see promise in nature’s freak. _ ”

 

She couldn’t take anymore, and made for the exit. The door’s bell betrayed her.

 

“Weiss?” She heard Yang ask. She stepped off to the store’s corner, shivering.

 

“Calm down, Weiss,” she whispered hurriedly, hugging herself. “Calm down, Weiss. It’s just a song. It’s just a stupid song. It’s not about you, stop shaking…”

 

“Weiss,” Yang said. “What was that about? You left the store in such a hurry, you worried the cashier.”

 

_ Oh, scheisse... Think of a convincing lie…  _ “I… just- really didn't like that store.”  _ Okay, a half-truth. Hopefully, she buys it. _

 

“I get it,” Yang said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. “I do. But we have to search for Blake. Let’s get going.”

 

She idly followed Yang between stores, the yellow brawler always asking the same questions, always receiving the same answer.

 

“Have you seen a girl about our age around here? Fair complexion, amber eyes, black hair, carries a sword, may or may not be wearing a bow on top of her head?” Yang inquired.

 

“No, sorry. Better luck elsewhere,” the clerk said. Yang sighed, Weiss leading the way out the door.

 

“Thanks, anyway!” Yang called back. “This is hopeless… You really don’t care if we find her, do you?”

 

“Don’t be stupid!” Weiss shot, turning to face Yang. “Of course I do.” She turned away, slowly marching down the sidewalk, staring at the ground. “I’m just afraid of what she’ll say when we find her.” She turned back to the blonde. “The innocent never run, Yang!”

 

“I still don’t understand why you’re so hateful toward the faunus. Velvet and Ruby are about the only ones you don’t hold any animosity toward,” Yang observed. Weiss was almost impressed she knew what animosity means. 

 

“You were there, but if you want to know more, here you go.” She strutted up to her larger teammate, coming well within arm’s reach. “On my fifteenth birthday, a package came in, addressed to me. It was chocolates, from an anonymous sender. One of the men in charge of making sure there weren’t any toxins on it was hospitalized, and the staff confirmed the chocolates had been tainted with poison found in plants like deadly nightshade. This goes beyond family friends, Yang. The White Fang have tried to assassinate me, personally. Just to get at my father.” She turned her eyes to the sidewalk. “I don’t think he’d have missed me.” She turned away and bit her lip, realizing she said too much.

 

“Weiss, why would you say that about yourself?” Apparently, the thought of a man hating his own child was a foreign idea to her. How lucky, she was.

 

“You can’t unhear things, Yang,” Weiss sighed, moving on. She thought she heard the brawler whisper something, but dismissed it as just a heavy breath. She resigned herself to tagging along behind Yang.

\------------

Though her parents weren’t there to see it, Weiss had taken first in her class’ tournament. After a car ride home, telling Klein all about it, she was bounding through the hallways, looking for her mother to break the news. She already knew her father wouldn’t much care. Any time she did anything glamorous for her age, the most she would get is an unenthused acknowledgement. Passing by the door to her parents’ bedroom, she heard shouting.

 

“I swear, if I have to hear one more thing out of that abomination’s mouth about its stupid tournament, or classes, or sparring, I’m going to… I don’t know!” Jacques exclaimed, thoroughly enraged.

 

“That is your daughter!” Willow shot, clearly in disbelief.

 

“My daughter!?”

 

“Yes, _ your _ daughter!”

 

“I have a rebellious daughter currently attending Atlas, and a son in middle school. The only one left is that winged freak.” If there was anything to take the wind out of her sails, it was that.

 

“Then we will just have to continue hiding it, if that’s what it takes for her to be happy. You know she hates being a faunus!”

 

“A funeral would be cheaper than another one of those damn surgeries! After disinheriting Winter, the  _ only _ reason she’s still heiress is to save face!” Tearing herself from the door, she ran to her room, locking herself inside. At least Klein was kind enough to bring her dinner.

\------------

“Hey, Weiss? Is something wrong?” a girl with freckles asked.

 

“It’s nothing, Ilia,” Weiss lied. Her voice betrayed her.

 

“You were so pumped yesterday after you won the tournament! What happened?”

 

“It’s nothing, I’m fine!” Weiss exclaimed, waving her off.

 

“Come with me,” Ilia said, dragging her to a secluded far corner of the school. “Something happened. You don’t have mood shifts like this for no reason. You should still be giddy after your victory. I’ve seen you at your highest, and now at your lowest. Please. Tell me what happened.” The freckles on her face suddenly turned blue. “What is it?”

 

“You’re… a faunus?” Weiss asked, blinking. Illia gasped and turned yellow, slowly backing away. “So... you have to hide what you are, too?” The question seemed to bring Ilia back to being passable as human.

 

“Too?” Ilia asked, drawing a blank. “Weiss, what are you talking about? Both of your parents are humans.”

 

A pause. “Lift the back of my shirt,” Weiss ordered, turning her back to Ilia. The other girl hesitantly obliged, slowly untucking Weiss’ shirt and raising it up her back. The heiress swore she heard the chameleon attempt to stifle a gasp before reaching out to touch the white wings on Weiss’ back, only for them to twitch reflexively, making her withdraw her hand. Ilia lowered Weiss’ shirt, and she turned back around. “Now that you know the truth, what do you think?”

 

“I don’t know,” Ilia answered. “We’re in the same boat, but for different reasons.”

 

“I won’t tell anyone, but please promise you won’t tell anyone about me. It would ruin my whole life.”

 

“I promise,” Ilia assured, resting a hand on Weiss’ shoulder. “I want to help you, Weiss. What happened? Why are you so sad?” 

 

“It’s my father,” she began, swallowing. The whole story came out faster than she meant it to, accompanied by an emotional breakdown.

\------------

The search continued for several more hours, the pair never finding Blake, or running into Ruby and Penny. At least she had plenty of time to rethink everything she knew about Blake. The last rays of daylight faded long ago, and her feet and ankles were starting to hurt. She was about to call off her search for the night when a small spark to the east caught her eye. Staring directly at it, the spark morphed into a fireball.

 

“What is it?” Yang inquired. “Do you… see something? I can’t see anything.”

 

“I… I think I just saw a fireball at the docks.” A dulled thundercrack echoed through the city.

 

“Sounds like someone’s playing with some heavy fireworks,” Yang said with renewed resolve. “Let’s go!”

 

Following the blonde, a green light erupted from the docks, followed closely by a series of explosions. Drawing their weapons, they followed the flash, running across the cut-up fuselages of two bullheads, surviving crew being rounded up by police. Judging by the clothes and masks, they were White Fang operatives. One spotted Weiss and leveled a rifle at her, only to be tackled by an officer, weapon flinging out of his grasp. They continued toward the docks, where there were more police cars, and Ruby, Penny, Blake and the monkey faunus from the boat sitting on crates in a circle. Ruby got up and approached her.

 

“Look, Weiss, it’s not what you think she doesn’t actually wear a bow she has kitty ears and they’re actually kind of cute,” Ruby said quickly, ramming her words together. Weiss ignored her, and walked straight up to Blake.

 

“Weiss, I want you to know that I’m no longer associated with the White Fang,” Blake said. “Back when I was with-”

 

“Stop,” Weiss ordered. Blake fell silent. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been searching for you? Twelve hours. That means I’ve had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I’ve decided...” she paused, allowing herself time to arrive to a final conclusion on the matter, “I don’t care!”

 

“You don’t care?” Blake asked. Apparently, this wasn’t what the cat was expecting.

 

“You said you’re not one of them anymore, right?”

 

“No, I haven’t been since I was younger-”

 

Weiss held up her hand, making a ridiculous noise to interrupt Blake. “I don’t wanna hear it. All  I want to know, is that the next time something this big comes up,” she paused, “you’ll come to your teammates, and not some…” she glanced at the stowaway, “someone else.”

 

Blake wiped away what was probably a tear. “Of course.”

 

“Yeah!” Ruby shouted, raising her fists in the air. “Team RWBY is back together! Oh! Weiss, Yang, this is Sun Wukong.”

 

The group formed a circle, and Weiss abruptly turned to Sun, pointing a finger in his face. “I’m still not quite sure how I feel about you!” Sun gave a nervous laugh.

 

“Hey, wait a minute,” Ruby began. “Where’s Penny?”

 

“That’s a… good question,” Yang said.

 

“Well, wherever she is, I don’t blame her for leaving. It’s late,” Weiss said. “By the way, was Torchwick here?”

 

“No,” Ruby said. “It was just White Fang. One of them hit me with an RPG.”

 

“You weren’t lying when we first met,” Weiss said, recalling their first mishap in the Emerald Forest. “You are tough.”


	7. Out of Sight, Always in Mind

“Whatcha doin’?” Yang chirped, bringing Weiss’ attention to Blake’s open journal. She noticed a sketch of a man with a sword on his back, and a rose below it.

 

“Nothing,” Blake said, closing the journal. “Just… going over notes from last semester.”

 

Nora flung a grape toward Yang’s mouth, which was almost literally inhaled. “Lame.” Nora shot another grape, Yang eating it and giving a thumbs up just before a heavy binder slammed to the table, causing their plates and utensils to clatter.

 

Ruby cleared her throat. “Sister! Friend! Weiss.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream!”

 

“This oughta be good,” Yang said.

 

“A dream that one day, the four of us would come together, _as a team_ , and have the most fun anyone has ever had… ever!”

 

“Did you steal my binder?” Weiss asked, noticing the title and her name having been scribbled over with red pen and replaced with other writing she didn’t care to read in thick, red marker. Ruby had better not have dumped 30 pounds of paper all over the dorm floor.

 

“I am not a crook,” Ruby said, crossing her fingers.

 

“What are you talking about?” Blake asked.

 

“I’m talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!” Ruby exclaimed, pointing at her teammate.

 

“I always kick my semesters off with a _Yang!_ ” Yang exclaimed. Everyone in earshot either glared or buried their faces in their hands. “Eh? Guys? Am I right?” And just like that, everyone’s mood was ruined.

 

“Boo!” Nora shouted, throwing a tomato.

 

“Look, guys. It’s been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students arriving, and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester’s going to be great! But, classes start back up again tomorrow. Which is why I’ve taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us, today!”

 

“I don’t know whether to be proud, or scared of what you have in store,” Weiss said flatly, Yang throwing an apple at Nora.

 

“I don’t know,” Blake said. “I think I might sit this one out.”

 

“Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team.” She stood to better share her thoughts, hearing Nora shout something, but otherwise not caring. “I think that-” A cream pie to the face interrupted her thoughts. Wiping whipped cream from her eyes, she noticed Nora pointing at Ren, who was bent over, burying his face in his hand.

\----------

After the food fight, everyone was laughing too hard to care about Goodwitch chastising them for destroying the cafeteria, and Yang falling through the ceiling and nearly crushing someone proved terrifying in the moment, and hilarious in the aftermath. She hadn’t cared about showering with the others as much as she cared about getting lunch out of her hair, completely forgetting about her scars.

 

“Hey, Weiss,” Ruby began, “what’s with those scars?”

 

“Huh?” Weiss pondered, turning to face her partner. The whole locker room was staring at her, well, the only other five people inside it, that is.

 

“The scars… on your shoulder blades?” Yang said, reaching over her shoulders and behind her own back.

 

“Oh,” Weiss said, hesitating, trying to come up with a lie. “Years ago… I had an incident… where I tore tendons from my trapezius’ and deltoids on both sides simultaneously.” It wasn’t necessarily a lie. Several muscles from her neck and back attached to the base of her wings, which all had to be cut whenever a surgeon performed the amputations. At least she was coordinated enough to cut them flush herself. “I don’t really remember how it happened, though.”

 

“Is that why you always wear that jacket?” Nora asked, pointing. “Even when it’s 90 degrees?”

 

“Yes,” Weiss admitted, though still lying. “They’re hideous things, and I would have preferred if none of you saw them.” She just wished she was actually talking about the scars. Pyrrha gave an uncertain nod toward her from behind everyone else.

 

**17 HOURS EARLIER**

 

“I am never doing that with Nora again,” Pyrrha sighed, marching to the washroom from the training room. She needed a shower, and Nora already called dibs on the single shower in the dorm. The only good that came of being aware of your own stench was the satisfaction of a good training session with someone impossibly strong for their size. No sooner had the washroom door shut behind her than she heard someone yelp. Discerning that it came from the showers, she jogged into the shower room, finding only one stall in use.

 

        “Just one left,” someone huffed, their voice shaky. The sound of a blade shearing flesh, another yelp, and something dropping to the shower floor with a wet thud filled the empty room. Without a second thought, Pyrrha threw open the glass door to find a bloody Weiss using her sword for support.

 

    “Weiss?” Pyrrha questioned, snapping the smaller girl out of whatever trance the pain had put her in.

 

    “Pyrrha!?” Weiss exclaimed, panicked, covering herself with her arms, Myrtenaster clattering to the shower floor. “What are you- Why are you-” Her eyes shot to the floor, then back to Pyrrha, becoming wide as saucers. Her breathing became forced and unsteady. She crammed herself into the inside corner of the shower, trying to become as small as possible. Digging her fingers into her scalp, she broke eye contact with Pyrrha and stared off into nothingness.

 

Pyrrha turned her attention to where Myrtenaster lay. Two white wings peppered with black spots lay on the shower floor, draining their fluids. She looked back to Weiss, who was still bleeding on the shower floor, head buried in her knees. She could barely hear her sobbing over the running water. The stall looked like something out of a cheap horror game, blood spattered and streaked on the walls and door, and pooling on the floor before running down the drain.

 

“Weiss, are you okay?” Pyrrha asked. She already knew the answer. Weiss shook her head, not bothering to look at her. “I’m sorry for barging in like that. I heard you cry out, so I came as quickly as I could.” Weiss remained huddled in the corner, silent and shaking. “If you want to talk about it, I will be in the changing area,” Pyrrha said, slowly closing the stall door.

\----------

    Wrapping herself in a towel and placing her severed wings in an opaque plastic bag, Weiss made for the changing area, then hesitated, remembering when Pyrrha said she would be waiting there. Swallowing thickly, she entered the changing room, dreading what awaited her. Looking to either side, Pyrrha proved to be the room’s only occupier, sitting as far from the washroom entrance as possible. She found a seat in front of the overly-apologetic fighter.

 

    “I know what you’re going to say, so just say it and get it over with,” Weiss said, barely making herself keep eye contact with someone who could likely tear her arms off and beat her to death with them if she wanted to.

 

    “Why do you do this to yourself, Weiss?” Pyrrha asked slowly, shaking her head and lowering her gaze.

 

    “Excuse me?” Weiss asked, confuddled. That was not what she expected to hear.

 

    “Why do you feel the need to harm yourself?” Pyrrha lifted her head, her teary bright green eyes suddenly boring into Weiss’ icy blue as a tear streaked down her face. “Why were you so scared when I went to make sure you were alright?”

 

    A pause, her face slowly morphing into a grimace. “Do you hate me?”

 

    “Why would I hate you, Weiss?” Pyrrha asked, leaning forward. She almost looked offended. “You’re my friend.”

 

    “I’m the only faunus in my entire family, Pyrrha! Blake, Sun, Velvet, Ruby… they’re normal! Why couldn’t I be normal? Instead- Instead, I have to endure everyone, even my own family turning their backs on me. I’ve heard my own father say he wish I were dead! Friends abandoned and backstabbed me over far less than what you just saw. Why would you, your team, or my team be any different?”

 

    “I can’t relate to what you’re going through,” Pyrrha said, “but I don’t hate you. I’m worried for you, and I want to help.” She took Weiss’ hand into her own. “If there’s anything I can do to help you, name it.”

 

    “Just please don’t tell anybody what you saw. It would destroy the rest of my life. That’s why I have to keep grooming. If word gets out one of the Schnees is a Faunus, all Hell would break loose, and I’d be at the front of it.”

 

    “Grooming is what you call… that?” Pyrrha’s expression suddenly turned from pleading to shock and disgust as she gestured to the bag. “Weiss, that is self-mutilation!”

 

    “It’s the only thing keeping me here and out of my father’s reach. If I’m found out, I will have no choice but to return to Atlas.”

 

    “Weiss, I mean no disrespect, but your fear is making you crazy! Listen to what you’re saying!”

 

    “Is it so insane to want to keep the friends I have? I don’t know a better way to live.” She stood and headed over to her locker, digging out a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt.

 

    “I think the price you‘re paying is far greater than the freedom you believe you’re enjoying,” Pyrrha said flatly. It wasn’t like her to be so confrontational.

 

    “I’m not terribly concerned with the price. All I ask is you don’t tell anyone what I really am,” Weiss pleaded, turning her back to the mirror she hung on the locker door and plucking out feathers with forceps, keeping the towel draped over her front.

 

    Pyrrha stood and walked over to Weiss, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I promise.” She paused. “I don’t hate you, Weiss. I just wish you knew how much it pains me to see you like this. You deserve so much better.”

\----------

    “We all have things we’d wish others didn’t know about,” Blake said. She wasn’t wearing her bow, for once. “But, as I’ve learned, it’s sometimes healthier to talk to your friends about your secrets. And your past.”

 

    _I wouldn’t expect any of you to understand the truth_ , Weiss thought, nodding. Someone’s scroll pinged. Everyone turned their attention to Blake, who was messaging someone.

 

    “Got yourself a boyfriend, Blake?” Yang teased.

 

    “I wouldn’t call him that yet,” Blake replied. “We’ve only started dating recently. By the way, Weiss. Sun wants to know if you’d be interested in tagging along for a double date. He says he has a friend that wants to meet you.”

 

    “Aww, someone’s trying to melt the ice queen’s heart!” Yang cooed.

 

    “I don’t know…” Weiss shrugged, ignoring Yang.

 

    “Come on, Weiss!” Yang exclaimed. “What’s the worst that could happen? You don’t like the guy? You almost don’t like anyone, anyway.”

 

    “It’s not that,” Weiss sighed, putting on her bolero. “Sun has shown himself to be a habitual thief. He steals things right in front of you, Blake! You said so, yourself. How can I be sure this friend of his won’t just use me to further his own ends?”

 

    “He won’t. I briefly spoke with Sun after our food fight,” Blake said. “According to Sun, he had never seen Neptune afraid to approach anyone, even after that time he got covered in mud from a bad encounter with a boarbatusk. So, what do you say? Wanna go?”

 

    “Um… sure?” Weiss said, not believing her own mouth or ears. It wasn’t too long before Blake got a response.

 

    “He said he wants to meet after class on Friday.”

 

    “Where?” Weiss asked, suspicious.

 

    “The tree right outside... our... dorm?” Blake said blankly.

\--------------

    Professor Port’s class seemed to drag on longer than normal, and it wasn’t even five minutes to close. If she hadn’t already taken notes of all the grimm on his board earlier in the year, she’d have something to do other than watch the clock or listen to the fat teacher’s endless droning about exaggerated stories from his past. At least Dr. Oobleck’s classes were informative. Naturally, an equally disinterested Jaune slid over for a chat.

 

    “So, Weiss,” he began, “I was thinking after this, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat? And, uh, you know, I’ve got two tickets to that new Spruce Willis movie if you wanna make the trip to Vale. I hear it’s awesome! And then, maybe after that, we could… study together? I mean, you’re smart and I’m, uh, you know-” The sound of an alarm interrupted his thought, and Port’s droning, much to her gratification.

 

    “And then, I- Hm, perhaps I timed that one wrong, I guess?” Port wondered, scratching his mustache. “Well, the stunning conclusion to this story will have to wait... until next time!”

 

    “Weiss?” Jaune said as she got up to leave. “Did you hear me?”

 

    “No. No. No. Yes,” she said, walking out of the lecture hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am proud to announce we are working on a second fanfiction! It's set in a Medieval Fantasy setting with many of the things you'd probably be familiar with, like magic. In this new one, Weiss casts an incantation, so I want to know: Would you rather see incantations performed in German, or in Latin?


	8. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the chapter being posted behind schedule. This chapter wound up being much bigger than anticipated, and the busy work week hasn't helped. Also, IShipYouNot has been promoted from editor to co-creator.

    “Remember, Weiss,” Blake said, catching up to her in the hallway, “it’s a casual date. There’s no need to get fancy.”

 

    “Is the new coat I wanted to wear so bad?” Weiss asked, feeling herself become nervous. “I mean, I want to make a good first impression-”

 

    “Have you not _seen_ how Sun dresses?” Blake asked, side-eyeing her. “If this guy’s his best friend, he’s probably open to just about anything in your wardrobe.”

 

    “But…”

 

    “You’re overthinking this, Weiss. Just find something you like,” Blake said. “Think biker jacket over a dress shirt and tie. Odds are, he won’t care what you’re wearing. Or if you’re wearing anything at all.”

 

“Are you in heat because that sounds like an overly sexual suggestion,” Weiss accused.

 

“More like I’m trying to get you to stop being so uptight,” Blake growled in response. While she could normally take such jabs in stride, the anticipation of their mission had her nerves on edge.

 

“Well it looks like it’s working!” Ruby chimed in as she jogged to catch up to them.

 

“How do you figure?” Blake asked as Weiss stared, one eyebrow raised in unspoken curiosity.

 

“I mean, she’s still going on the date, right?” Ruby snorted as she tried to hide her giggles, Weiss’ ever present efforts to not fawn over Neptune painfully obvious and relatively amusing for the rest of her team to watch.

 

    “I can’t believe I’m taking dating advice from a floozy...” Weiss groaned, her face turning beet red.

 

    “Takes one to know one…” Blake mumbled as Ruby glanced between them, struggling to find a way to end the fight.

 

    “So, what are we talking about?” Yang asked loudly as she caught up, the interruption serving to derail the bickering pair.

 

    “Oh, nothing,” Weiss said. “Just how you like to flaunt your boobs and absolutely nobody can avoid staring at them.”

 

    “Guys just know what’s good!” Yang winked as Weiss let out an exasperated sigh, her insult falling flat. “Girls too, if you’re saying ‘absolutely nobody’.” Yang snickered as her team each voiced their disagreement with a groan. “Anyway, Professor Goodwitch wanted to see me after last class. I’ll see you three at the dorm.”

 

    “I need to turn in a paper to Dr. Oobleck,” Ruby said, rubbing her chin. “He can be a stinge, but he can also be lenient on paper turn-ins. Hopefully, he’ll have mercy on me. Ciao!”

 

    “I’ll be by the dorm later too, Weiss,” Blake said. “Professor Peach has asked to see me today. I have no idea what for, though… Anyway, I’ll catch you later.” With nothing impeding her own prep schedule, Weiss headed to the dorm with the sole intention of reevaluating her choice of dress. Maybe Blake was onto something with the uptight thing. She wasn’t normally this self conscious.

 

Later….

 

    “I thought that class would _never_ end!” Blake said just as Weiss exited the closet. She ended up wearing her snow pea coat anyway as all of her team still managed to return before she made a final decision.

 

“Same,” Yang chimed in. “At least I can usually sleep and get away with it. Oobleck notices too often so he’s learned to keep an eye on me.”

 

“You weren’t sleeping today were you?” Weiss asked accusingly. The last thing she needed was for their average grade to drop because Yang didn’t want to participate.

 

“Pfft. No! But the fact that you can’t remember what I was doing shows you weren’t paying attention to the class either.”

 

“Yang, leave Weiss alone. She’s plenty stressed without putting your grades on her radar,” Blake chided.

 

“Oh come on,” Yang huffed as she jumped down from her bunk. “My grades are fine.”

 

“Barely passing is not _fine_ ,” Weiss hissed. “It really shouldn’t even be acceptable.”

 

As she attempted to step forward, Yang found her arm in her partners grasp and firmly holding her where she was. “Yang. Calm down. We are not doing this when tonight is supposed to be fun.” A moment of silence passed between the girls as Yang debated Blake’s words. Eyeing Weiss over her shoulder, she continued, “And Weiss? Not everyone is willing to do what it takes to be the top five percent of the class. Let’s be happy that Yang is passing and doing so by carrying her own weight.”

 

Weiss looked away for a moment, her pride unwilling to bend. “You’re right,” she said at a whisper as she turned back to her teammates. “I’m sorry. I forgot how heavy your boobs were,” she said through a smirk.

 

“Just like you forgot how flat the stick in your ass was? Oh wait, I’m looking at it,” Yang barked back.

 

“Yang, don’t make me punch you in the tit again!” Ruby said as she jumped to her feet and charged her sister, Weiss and Blake staring slack-jawed.

 

“Knock it off, Ruby…” Yang sighed as she held her little sister back with one hand.

 

“Oh, I’ll knock it off, alright. I’ll knock it right into your chin!” Ruby growled as she strained to reach for her much taller sibling.

 

“Looks like someone's suffering from little dog syndrome…” Blake muttered just loud enough for Weiss and Yang to catch.

 

Yang sighed, “Don’t worry, she only makes these threats because Dad does…”

 

“Your _dad_ punches you in the boobs!?” Weiss shrieked.

 

“Sometimes, because we spar, accidents happen,” Yang grunted as Ruby managed to land a halfway decent hit in her stomach. “It’s just more socially acceptable for the punches to come from Ruby because she’s my little sister.” A slight pause. Yang turned her attention over to Weiss. “I don’t see why _you’re_ getting so upset about it. It’s not like you have any…”

 

    “Yeah!” A familiar voice exclaimed.

 

    “Sun!?” Blake exclaimed as the team jumped backward as one, Ruby and Yang ending their little squabble immediately.

 

    “How did you get up there?” Yang asked.

 

    “It’s easy, I do it all the time,” Sun said, nonchalant.

 

    “You do _what!?_ ” Weiss accused, aghast. Suddenly, changing with the curtain open seemed like a terrible idea. Even if she was in the closet whenever she needed to.

 

    “I climb trees all the time!” Sun quickly elaborated. She narrowed a disbelieving glare at him as he removed himself from his perch, inviting himself into their dorm. “So, is everyone ready for tonight’s plans?”

 

    “But… weren’t we supposed to meet you by the tree? Not you meeting us in our dorm?” Blake asked. Saying that out loud somehow felt dirty and nobody wanted to acknowledge it…. Except maybe Yang. To Weiss, this was starting to sound a lot like the beginning of one of Blake’s many racy novels and to say she wasn’t a fan was an understatement.

 

    “And leave Neptune to boredom?” Sun asked, gesturing to the window. All of Team RWBY peeked out the window to find a blue-haired boy wearing a red leather jacket and yellow goggles pressing himself against the exterior wall.

 

    “Sup?” he asked, somehow cool as a cucumber despite the scrutiny of one ice queen and three relatively impressed girls, and the potential four story drop to the concrete below.

 

    “How did you even get up here?” Ruby asked.

 

    “I have my ways,” Neptune said, turning his gaze to the ground. “Seriously, though, can I come in? It’s kind of high up,” the fear of falling finally showing itself. At least he was being a gentleman about it. They looked at each other, then beckoned him inside. He sighed in relief after his feet touched the carpet.

 

    “Alright, everyone’s ready for tonight?” Ruby asked, excited.

 

    “Wait, I was never told you two were coming,” Weiss said.

 

    “Oh, we’re not. Ruby and I have some… other activities planned,” Yang said.

 

    “O-kay, then,” Weiss cringed, nodding, not liking the way Yang phrased that sentence.

 

    “...what?”

 

    “Oh, nothing. Just anticipating all the wonderful fun you’re going to have sabotaging this night,” Weiss said, her tone low and threatening.

 

    Yang smirked in response. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” Weiss glared at her, unamused as Yang sighed. “If you catch me, I’ll do my essays and research to your standards before I turn them in for the rest of the semester. Deal?”

 

    Weiss looked to the rest of the people in the dorm, only to find everyone glancing between her and Yang, shock present on everyone’s faces. They were only two weeks into their second semester. For Yang to be making such a proposition was unexpected at best. “Either you’re ridiculously confident in your non-existent ability to camouflage,” Weiss said as she looked back to the blonde, “or you’re serious about having other plans.”

 

    “Like I said, wait and see. So do you want to take my deal or not, ‘cause if you don’t and you’re wrong, you know you’re going to be mad later,” Yang laughed, her taunt blatant and unmistakably meant to push some buttons.

 

    “You’re on Xiao Long!” She knew Yang wanted her to take the bait, but she was right. If she was smart enough to employ reverse psychology and Weiss didn’t take the bait, she absolutely would regret it. “I’m sorry I don’t trust you enough to leave me alone for a few hours.”

 

“No one faults you for your suspicions, Weiss,” Blake said gently. “Yang does go too far with the practical jokes on occasion.”  

\------------

    “Alright, you love birds have fun!” Yang exclaimed, walking off with Ruby as the group entered the courtyard.

 

    “So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Weiss asked.

 

    “There’s this nice restaurant we could eat at,” Neptune said. “Although, if you want to have a little more fun, there’s a fair in town.”

 

    “A fair?” Weiss pondered, a look of befuddlement crossing her face for a second. “That sounds great! What do you two think?” Sun and Blake were nowhere to be seen. “Were we just ditched?”

 

    “It wouldn’t be the first time,” Neptune shrugged. “So, what would you prefer? We could go to the fair, or see a movie. Or... just talk over dinner at a nice restaurant.”

 

    “I’ve... never been to a fair,” Weiss said, fidgeting slightly.

 

“You’re joking,” Neptune said flatly. A quiet moment passed as Weiss refused to meet his gaze. “Okay…. hang on.” Pulling out his scroll he tapped a number as she watched him curiously. “Sun, gimme Blake or Yang or somebody…. What? No, dude, seriously, lemme talk to somebody from her team…. Hey Ruby…. Yeah, everything’s fine…. Start taking Weiss to arcades and stuff…. Yeah, I know that…. She’s never been to a fair so I bet she’s never done that…. You guys need to take field trips to places with her…. I can’t cram all that into one night!... Yes…. All right, bye.”

 

    “What was that all about?” she pried.

 

“Well, we’re going to the fair, that’s for sure.” No sooner had he tucked his scroll into his pocket than a ding sounded, forcing him to pull it back out. “Aaaaand they just wired me almost a thousand lien and a message saying _‘Have fun and try everything’_. I hope they know fairs don’t usually cost that much.”

 

“Why do they feel the need to do ridiculous things like this?” Weiss sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, the beginning of a headache souring her mood.

 

“They just want you to have a good night.”

 

“I know,” she said as they began walking to the helipad. “But I’m a big girl and can pay for myself.”

 

“Sounds like you’ve never been on a proper date, either,” Neptune laughed. “Besides, paying for yourself would ruin the magic.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

“I asked my dad when I was around eleven or so why he still paid for my mom when we’d go to the local festival, even though she made way more lien than he did,” Neptune said as they boarded the airship. “He said he’s happiest when she’s smiling and that’s usually when she doesn’t have to pay for something. So really, my parents say so.”

 

“Then your parents are weird,” the heiress said as she took the window seat. Neptune plopped down in the aisle seat next to her.

 

“Maybe, but let’s wait until the end of the night to pass judgement. You might change your mind.”

 

They continued making small talk as the airship made its way to the edge of the city and the closest dock to the fairgrounds. Looking out the window, Weiss took in the sights.

 

“Looks like this group was able to set up some roller coasters,” Neptune said. “Actually, that green one looks like it might be The Mountaineer.”

 

“Is that… a Ferris wheel?” Weiss asked in disbelief.

 

“Uh, yeah? You’ve really… never had a chance to go to one of these?” Weiss shook her head as she looked back to him, her eyes only meeting his for a brief second before she looked down and away. “All right then,” Neptune said gently. “How about we see what’s there,” he said as the airship docked and he stood to stretch, “and we’ll go do the first thing that looks even remotely interesting to you.”

 

“We might be here a while…” Weiss replied nervously as they exited the ship.

 

“Carnivals don’t close at sundown. They almost always have a fireworks show every night unless it’s raining or too windy, so we should have enough time to do everything once. If not,” he said as he pointed to a flyer, “we can come back tomorrow. That is, of course, if you enjoy yourself.”

 

“Just looking at it from here, I’m having a hard time seeing why I wouldn’t enjoy at least some of the attractions,” Weiss said as she looked out from the landing pad.

 

“Then let’s go. Some of them are scams though, so we’re going to be steering clear of a few that I’m sure you’re going to want to try.”

 

“I guess they do have to pay for the prizes and the workers wages somehow….”

\-----------------

    “Where’s Ruby?” Blake asked.

 

    “She ran off with Penny when we were by the CCT,” Yang sighed.

 

    “She’s supposed to be helping us break up a White Fang meeting,” Blake growled, pinching the skin between her eyes.

 

    A gust of wind and boots clopping to the ground brought the group’s attention off to the side. “Sorry I’m late guys, what’d I miss?” Ruby asked, running up to the group.

 

    “Nothing yet,” Coco said. “You’re just in time.”

 

    “Augh, you stink!” Velvet exclaimed, waving her hand in front of her face. “And what’s that in your hair?”

 

    “Oh, Penny threw me into a dumpster…”

 

    “Penny did _what!?_ ”

 

    “So, anyway, everyone remember the plan?” Ruby asked, quickly changing the subject.

 

    “Sun and I will infiltrate the White Fang meeting and discreetly inform the police,” Blake said, holding up one of the masks they were given.

 

    “When the police start to roll up, Coco and I will corner them off from the South,” Ruby said.

 

    “You are _not_ carrying me anywhere while you smell like a garbage bin,” Coco chided.

 

    “And Velvet will be with me, ready to corral the White Fang,” Yang said, leaning against her motorcycle.

 

    “By the way, why aren’t Neptune and Weiss here?” Sun chimed in.

 

    “Weiss has been under a lot of stress as of late,” Blake said. “This is a good chance for her to loosen up a bit. Besides, we don’t need to give the White Fang another reason to try for her life.”

 

    “Okay, that’s… that’s fair,” Sun said.

\-----------------

    The sound of popping filled the air as Weiss, Neptune, and a few other attendees pulled the triggers on the pellet guns, Weiss and Neptune tied for first the whole way as one after another the moving steel targets fell. Neptune faltered towards the end as Weiss one-upped him, taking down the annoyingly small creeps in quick succession. The final grimm, an Ursa Major, popped up in the back. Everyone began firing at it, most missing the numerous targets scattered throughout the caricature or hitting the obstacles it hid behind. Weiss hit several of them and, while they gave her points, none of them knocked the grimm out. Neptune however, took three or four shots, the last of which taking out the Ursai and giving him an extra twenty points, putting him at a grand total of one hundred, exactly one point ahead of Weiss.

 

    “You know, for someone who’s never played this game, you really gave me a run for my money,” Neptune sighed as he set the gun down and looked over to her. “How’d you pick up so fast?”

 

    “Casting my glyphs requires a lot of concentration to do accurately,” she replied as she also set her own gun on the counter. “This is kind of the same principle. I was terrible in the beginning because I didn’t know the exact path the pellets would travel until I started shooting. After that, it was just a matter of adjusting where I was aiming to get the results I wanted.”

 

    “Ah,” Neptune replied as the booth attendant asked him what he wanted. “That one,” Neptune said as he pointed to a Giant Nevermore.

 

    “And for you young lady?” he said as he handed Neptune his prize.

 

    “I didn’t hit one hundred, though.”

 

    “You were close enough. Anyone that can give this guy a hard time at my booth is well worth a reward. So,” he said as he gestured behind him, “what would you like?”

 

    She carefully inspected the shelf of prizes, nothing particularly interesting catching her eye at first, except for an Ursa that looked a little strange. “Is something wrong with that one on the end?”

 

    The attendee looked up and immediately realized what she was staring at. “No, there’s nothing wrong. I buried one of the prizes with another apparently.” He grabbed the Ursa by the foot and dragged it down. Reaching up again, he grabbed what appeared to be a tentacle, the orb of a body falling off the edge shortly after. “I think I’ll take the octopus thing.”

 

    “Have you been reading Blake’s books?” Neptune asked slyly as Weiss blushed.

 

    “No, actually,” Weiss grumbled. “I’ve never seen a Grimm like this before. I wanna know what it is.”

 

    “I wish you luck with that,” the attendant said as he handed her the prize and turned to put the Ursa away. “Even my employer didn’t have an answer for that one, which is part of why it was in the back.  But maybe you’ll be more resourceful than myself as I didn’t pursue the subject.” Inspecting the horrid thing a bit closer, she realized it had teeth at the base of the orb where the tentacles began.

 

    “Thank you.” She looked at the stuffed abomination in her hands for a moment as Neptune took a step towards her.

 

    “Hey, I have an idea!” Turning to look at him, her face contorted in shock as he placed the feet of the stuffed bird on her shoulders, its head on top of hers, and the wings draping on either side of her face. “Hahaha!”

 

    She scowled at him for a couple seconds before an idea came to her. Reaching up, she placed the tentacle grimm on top of Neptune's head and tied the tentacles under his chin, ignoring his protests. The teeth formed a kind of crown that stuck up where his goggles interrupted the pattern, while the remaining tentacles hung limply over his shoulder. She crossed her arms and gave a triumphant smirk. “There. Now we both look like idiots.”

 

    “Personally, I think you look adorable, Eagle Eye,” Neptune said. “We should take a picture! I think our teams would get a laugh out of this.”

 

    “Why?”

 

    “So they’ll believe you when you tell them you had fun at some point? Maybe they’ll even stop calling you Ice Queen as much.”

 

    “Okay, okay,” she said, rolling her eyes as he got someone to hold his scroll. He jogged a couple steps to stand next to her after handing it off and placed his hand on her shoulder. They both smiled for the camera as the passerby clicked the camera a few times, just to ensure a good shot and handed it back.

 

    “That’s not that bad actually. Thanks man!” Neptune said as the guy headed on his way. While he was distracted, Weiss tapped the end of her scroll to his, immediately transferring a copy of the picture to her own. “Hey!”

 

    “You did say I should have evidence that I had fun tonight. I think this will be sufficient.”

 

    “Oh, really?” Neptune said as he raised an eyebrow. “Let’s check out some more stuff and see if you don’t have even more fun.”

 

    “So I can make a fool out of you again?”

 

    “I bet I can beat you at the Tower of Power!”

 

    “The what?”

 

    “That thing,” he said, nodding to a beam about twelve feet tall. “Where’s the line?” he asked as they walked towards it. “Better question, where’s the display for the game?”

 

    “We had a huntress come by earlier and do a number on the controller,” he said as he held up a relatively sturdy looking mallet with the head snapped off. “And then she broke our sensor pad with the back up,” he continued as he pointed to the dented metal plate at the base of the game. “Even the seven foot monster before her didn’t do the damage she did.”

 

    “Lemme guess,” Weiss said as she pulled out her scroll and swiped to her contacts. “Was it her?” she asked as she faced the screen towards the attendant, Yang’s smiling face on it.

 

    “No, but that ginger is. Since you know her, I’m going to assume you’re paying for the damages to our equipement,” he said sharply.

 

    “Hardly. I know her because her team has a dorm across the hall from us. If you’re seeking recompense for your game,” Weiss said as she looked him in the eye, “then you should be aware of the school’s due process for damage caused by students of Beacon. File a complaint and submit it, and Headmaster Ozpin or Professor Goodwitch will get back to you with their findings and appropriate funding to fix it.”

 

    “Why not just pay outright?” Neptune asked, not quite following her thought process.

 

    “It could stay broken until the festival ends and they can continue to shake down students that know Nora, which is basically the whole school, until they’re supposed to pack up and leave. At that point they could file a claim with the school and still potentially get money they don’t need,” Weiss continued, her points becoming increasingly clear that she was aware of what he was doing. “The claims system is to prevent the abuse of damage payment caused by students, and event organizers and hosts are barred from setting up these events without being physically present to sign a contract. Since you set up your booth, I’m going to assume you were present for the meeting and signed the contract, and if that’s the case, I now have reason to file a criminal complaint with the local police.” A small crowd had started to gather while Weiss was talking. Seeing no way to keep her from further incriminating him to other guests and his employer, he pulled out his scroll and filed the recompense order in front of her.

 

    “I get it, now buzz off,” he growled as he put his scroll away.

 

    “Well, that was interesting,” Neptune said as they meandered aimlessly further into the fairgrounds. “I wonder if Mistral has similar protection for its students. How do you know so much about the legal system?”

 

    “It’s part of analyzing business and, if I’m going to be inheriting the company, it’s something I need to be good at. Studying the rules for this was just practice,” she replied, her tone turning sour. “I didn’t expect to actually use the information.”

 

    Neptune looked around for a few seconds as he searched for something to say to bring back the happiness she had been feeling a minute ago. A string of roller coaster carts screamed by, sparking an idea. “I bet you’ve never been on one of those before,” he said, smirking as he gestured to the mess of rails.

 

    “No, and I don’t see what everyone else sees in them,” she said eyeing the death contraption warily.

 

    “Are you… chicken?”

 

    “What? Absolutely not.”

 

    “You sure?”

 

    “Neptune, we get launched through the air for initiation, dive out of bullheads for missions, and are currently training to fight the creatures of Grimm. Why would a roller coaster scare me?”

 

    “I dunno. Prove me wrong and go on it with me.”

 

    “... I think you’re scared.”

 

    “What? No--”

 

    “Okay,” she said as she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him towards the ride, “then now’s your chance to prove it. Chicken.”

\-----------------

    “Sorry we’re late!” Nora exclaimed, her and the rest of JNPR running up to Ruby and her group. “We had a hard time getting out of the carnival!”

 

    “Don’t worry, you’re just in time,” Ruby said as Yang and Velvet tore off, Blake and Sun heading toward the warehouse.

 

    “You remember your places?” Coco asked.

 

    “Once the cops show up, me and Pyrrha will spearhead their attack on the compound. Nora will blow a hole in the wall, allowing her and Ren to leap into the fray without much obstruction.”

 

    “It will also provide a lot of shock value,” Pyrrha noted. “It may not sound important, but a sudden explosion can cause disarray among enemy ranks.”

 

    “Alright, let’s hurry up and get in position!” Ruby exclaimed, taking flight. Upon reaching her perch on a high-rise, she saw the others slowly moving into position. The howling of Yang’s motorcycle was very audible in the night air, no doubt looking for a way to make a dramatic entrance. She sighed and took a seat on the cornice she landed on. It was going to be some time before Sun, Blake and the others would be in position, let alone before the police would show up. Her scroll pinged. Removing it from her pocket, she found she had a message from Weiss. It was a photo someone took of her and Neptune with stuffed Grimm dolls on their heads; Weiss with a Nevermore, and Neptune wearing what looked like a Seer as a crown. She chuckled and sent it to her sister.

….

    “What is it, Yang?” Velvet asked as the blonde gawked at her scroll. Peering over the brawler’s shoulder, the rabbit faunus observed the picture Yang was staring at with the attached message ‘ _I told you guys I know how to smile_ ’. It was Weiss and Neptune, each with stuffed Grimm dolls on their heads. “Send me that!”

….

    Ruby watched from her perch as Coco strutted over to a street corner and leaned against a building. Across the boulevard, Pyrrha and Jaune took cover behind a dumpster while Ren and Nora climbed to the rooftop of an adjacent building. Blake and Sun could be seen heading into the alley that led to the warehouse’ back door. She looked back to Coco, who had taken her scroll out and staggered off the building as she leaned over to try and get a closer look.

 

    _I guess one of them must have sent her the picture,_ Ruby thought. Ruby’s scroll pinged again and she pulled it out to see a message from Yang. _‘I’m glad she’s actually having a good night’._

\-----------------

    Weiss sighed as she wiped her fingers on a napkin. While the food was delicious, it proved to be too greasy for her. “You doing okay over there?” Neptune asked before taking another bite of pizza.

 

    “Just fine.” Her stomach gurgled loudly in disagreement. “Okay, maybe not. I don’t normally eat this kind of stuff, so it’s harder on my system than it is anyone else's.”

 

    “Hang on, I’ll be right back.” Rising from his chair, he went to go stand in line again. She watched him for a moment before pulling out her scroll. Her team had only contacted her once so far, and only to tell her that she and Neptune should keep taking pictures. Yang went so far as to tell her she looked cute, but she refused to believe that the blonde wasn’t there somewhere just waiting to mess with her.

 

    “You know,” an unfamiliar voice said, “if you’re not eating, you shouldn’t be taking up seating the rest of us could be using.” Weiss looked up to see a male and a couple of female faunus glaring at her.

 

    “My date just got up to get in line again,” she said as she glanced to Neptune. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a couple of empty tables nearby. “There are empty seats--”

 

    “Look you entitled brat,” the male faunus snarled as he leaned to place his hands on the table, “I said move. Now you can get up yourself, or I can do it for you.” Weiss clutched the Nevermore in her lap, fear and rage coursing through her as she glanced around for Neptune. She panicked slightly as she realized she didn’t see him anywhere.

 

    “Or you can do us all a favor and go to one of the many empty tables nearby,” a familiar voice chimed in behind her. Turning around, Weiss found Neptune approaching with Sage and Yatsuhashi in tow and two fountain drinks in his hands. “It’s not like there’s anything special about where we’re sitting, except maybe that the top of it wobbles.” Glancing around, Weiss realized that a lot of people were staring at them. “I’m sure you can find a better spot, buddy.”

 

    “Neptune, what are you doing?” Weiss said to him quietly. The male faunus growled in frustration as he stormed off, all four of the students watching them go.

 

“....oh thank god he’s not willing to fight,” Neptune muttered to himself. “Here,” he said as he handed her a cup, the condensation on the outside making it slippery, “this should help your stomach some.” Sipping it through the straw, the carbonated flavor of lemon and lime became apparent.

 

“That’s troubling,” Yatsuhashi said as he sat down across from Weiss.

 

Sage took the seat next to him, across from Neptune as he added his own thoughts to the conversation. “To think they’d be willing to fight with a huntress in training three on one over a broken table is already disgraceful, but for her to be sick too?”

 

“Okay, I don’t know what Neptune told you, but my stomach is upset. That’s literally it.”

 

“We know. He didn’t exaggerate, but there was still no reason for that guy to pick a fight with you,” Sage said as he popped a cheese curd into his mouth. “So, how’s your date night going?” he asked as he looked to Weiss.

 

“Pretty good so far, all things considered,” she said. She covered her mouth as a small burp escaped her as Yatsuhashi laughed.

 

“Dude, I told you how it’s going,” Neptune grumbled.

 

“I know,” Sage replied smugly, “but you like to exaggerate.”

 

Scowling, Neptune took another bite out of his pizza as he glared at Sage. “So… do you have any idea what you want to do next, Snow Angel?”

 

“Well, that Whack-A-Grimm thing that we passed earlier looked kind of interesting.”

 

Sage glanced up when Yatsuhashi replied, “It’s broken.”

 

“Seriously!?” Neptune practically screamed.

 

“Nora…” Sage and Yatsuhashi groaned in unison.

 

    “Figures,” Neptune sighed. “Anything else?” He looked over to find Weiss staring at something not far away. Turning further, he spied a ride that was familiar to him. “Teacups, huh?”

 

    “That’s what that’s called?” she asked as she turned back around to face the guys.

 

    “Yeah. Do you… want to go on that one?” She nodded as Sage tried to hide a snicker. “Oh god, here we go.”

 

    “Do you want me to let you tell her?” his teammate asked as Neptune glared at him. “I can tell her, but I only know the version Sun told--”

 

    “I’ll tell her dammit. You guys like to change the story,” he groaned as he got up from the table and began walking towards the attraction. Weiss gave a hurried thanks to Yatsuhashi and Sage before sprinting off after her date.

 

    “Neptune? Are you okay?” she asked as they stood in the short line, the setting sun drawing people to reserve seats on the lawn in anticipation for the fireworks show later on.

 

    “Yeah, they’re just jerks sometimes.”

 

    “Tell me about it,” Weiss said dejectedly as they boarded the ride. Neptune searched her gaze for answers and maintained eye contact until she looked away.

 

    He glanced around as the ride began to rotate, trying to find something to focus on. A handful of seconds passed before he spoke again. “So, I’m sure one of the things you noticed is that this is a couples ride.” Glancing over to Weiss, she nodded even though she didn’t make eye contact with him again. “Well, Sun thought it’d be funny to throw me over his shoulder and force me to ride this thing with him.”

 

    “That’s… “

 

    “The gayest thing you’ve ever heard.”

 

    “Well, that too,” she said as she tried not to dissolve into giggles. “I was going to say ridiculous.” Her giggles turned into a gasp as the cup itself began to spin.

 

    “You know, there was a point where these things were meant to be spun manually by the riders, but when Sun dragged me up here, he insisted that we had to spin it as fast as possible.”

 

    “That doesn’t sound like it’d be a problem.”

 

    “It was a bigger one than most of us realized. All the cups had a tensioner on the bottom that made it harder to spin so people didn’t fly off the ride or make themselves sick…. We managed to break the tensioner… and topple the cup….”

 

    “O-okay….” Weiss choked as she tried to talk through the giggles. “If the story is so simple, what’s the problem with your teammates telling it? How much can they possibly change it?”

 

    Neptune looked bewildered, like there was something obvious she was missing. Admitting defeat, he realized he was going to have to spell it out for her. “They like to do stupid things like call it our _‘first date’_.” Weiss took a moment to process what she’d just been told, running different scenarios of mischief though her head as she completely dissolved into a fit of giggles. She remained incoherent for a while after they disembarked from the attraction as her eyes watered from the stitches in her sides.

\-----------------

    “I don’t get it,” Sun said. “If you think what you’re doing is right, why hide who you are?”

 

    “The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters,” Blake answered.

 

    “Grimm masks?” Sun questioned. “That’s… kinda dark.”

 

    “So is the guy who started it,” Blake said.

 

“Always sunshine and rainbows with you,” Sun muttered as he and Blake each equipped a mask and entered the warehouse, joining a growing herd of faunus. An officer was preparing to give his speech on the stage.

 

    Sun leaned over and whispered into Blake’s ear, “Do you know that guy?”

 

    “No,” Blake replied. “He may be a high-ranking Fang member, but he’s not Adam’s Lieutenant.”

 

    “Thank you all for coming,” the officer began. “For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, first, while it may not seem like we are making any progress, High Leader Khan and Commander Taurus assure us we are indeed making headway. Revolutions are not won overnight. Second, our base of operations has been moved to, and listen up knuckleheads, a secure location to the southwest; sectors 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. If you’re no good with numbers, find a buddy to help you. We will get into specifics at the end of this presentation.”

 

    Sun leaned in to Blakes ear and whispered, “So, when’s our signal? This guy’s giving me a headache already...”

 

    “Any second now…”

\---------------

Weiss listened to the memorized spiel her father would constantly berate her with when she did anything that displeased him. Most often, that was doing something less that absolutely perfect, or in her current case, fidgeting. While stillness was something she practiced frequently, she found herself unable to do so now as excited energy flowed through her tired body. Neptune made the photo booth sound like so much fun, she couldn’t wait to see what they would get. Her fidgeting only got worse the closer they got to the entrance.

 

Neptune had described how it worked to her. The entire attraction was actually a somewhat narrow tunnel with stands on the right and left. They would walk in and be assigned a booth number. The booth itself was just a three walled stall with a table towards the aisle. They’d tap their scrolls to the table, pick and pay for a photo bundle, and then stand back and pose according to the subject and their assigned reaction, both of which were randomized. What the program did was edit them into a scenario, outfit, or with accessories according to the prompt. All the assets used for the attraction were supposedly three dimensional models that could be fit to whatever ridiculous action they chose. To her, it sounded like a game of dress up without the hassle of changing clothes.

 

“Okay, how many?” the attendant asked as they finally reached the front of the line.

 

    “Two,” Neptune replied as he smiled at Weiss.

 

    “Booth four has two more pictures…” he said as Weiss played with the Nevermore’s tail feathers. “Are you familiar with how this attraction works?” he asked as Neptune tapped his scroll to the attendants table so he could transfer the assignment.

 

    “Yeah, my parents always enjoyed this one so we’d do as many as we could afford,” Neptune laughed. “She’s never been though,” he continued as he gestured to Weiss.

 

    “I see,” he said as he turned to Weiss. “It’s pretty simple. Just place your scroll on the table, fill out the on-screen prompts, and then stand back and do the prompts to the best of your ability. While many of them will assign a role by gender, the bigger the pack you purchase, the more often a gag photo will be thrown in. I think the current ratio is one in seven will be for laughs.”

 

    “What’s a gag photo?”

 

    “Well, hmm. In your guys’ case, it could be something like ‘Strong’ and ‘Dangerous’, where you might be given the rippling muscles of a giant... aaaand he could be put in a dress with a gun and fantastic legs.”

 

    Neptune facepalmed as Weiss responded, “I don’t know if that’s funny or terrifying.”

 

    “The results only get sent to your scrolls. Distribution beyond that is entirely in your hands, unless our company would like to use one of your photos in an advertisement. In that case, we’d contact both of you with an ad pre-roll and permissions contract. Your booth is ready by the way.”

 

    “Well, what do you think of that?” Neptune asked as their headed to their assigned area.

 

    “It was certainly interesting, I’ll give him that. I don’t know how I feel about these ‘gag photos’ though.”

 

    “I guess you’ll just have to do it and see,” he remarked as they placed their scrolls on the table. The on-screen prompts were quick and simple, only asking for name, gender, and how silly they were okay with the pictures being. Looking over to Neptune’s screen, she noticed he’d put his preference all the way to ten. He picked up his scroll while she hesitated. ‘ _May as well see what the worst they can do looks like_ ’. A sigh escaped her as she placed her finger on the ten and the screen flipped to a thank you message before transitioning to a bundle option and payment screen. “You know the ratio of gag photos changes to fit the average preference for a group, right?” he said as she picked up her scroll.

 

    “So if I brought my team up here and they all selected ten, and I selected one, we’d still have a variety of nonsense happening.”

 

    “Exactly, because it averages out the vote. If, say, you came here with your family or something and you all selected one, you wouldn’t have any gag photos. This company does work like this for a lot of weddings and funerals so you have to have a balance. They also have a master control so they can set multiple units to certain occasions. How many pictures do you want to take?”

 

    Weiss shifted her footing slightly so she could look at their options. “How about thirty?”

 

    “Alright….” Tapping the screen, another message popped up. _‘Please place scroll to be charged fee on the table’_. Placing his scroll down again, another thank you message appeared with instructions to remove the scroll and step back. Weiss took their stuffed prizes from earlier and placed them on the edge of the table so they wouldn’t get in the way in the photo shoot

 

    Their first prompt appeared; coffee. Beneath it, she noticed their names and assigned actions. Her’s was ‘content’ while Neptune’s was ‘disgust’. A countdown starting at five appeared and Weiss found it very difficult not to laugh at Neptune. Disgust apparently meant stick your tongue out and cross your eyes while trying to frown. The camera flashed and the word processing popped up for a second before their next prompt appeared; medieval. Neptune had ‘fancy’ of all things, and Weiss had ‘noble’. Whatever this one turned out to be, she made a mental note to send it to both of their teams as they posed, Neptune squaring up like some kind of underwear model. They continued like this for the next five minutes, with Weiss occasionally getting Neptune to smirk as she tried her hardest to make him break character.

 

    “So,” Neptune said as he walked up to the table and set his scroll down again to begin downloading the photos, “did you enjoy yourself?”

 

    She placed her scroll down next to his and replied, “Let’s see what our pictures look like before I make a final decision.” Picking up their scrolls, they headed out of the booth. “So, what next?”

 

    “You’ve never been on a Ferris wheel, right? The night time is usually the best time to ride it.”

 

    “Why’s that?”

 

    “The skyline of course! And sometimes the fireworks,” he added on thoughtfully.

 

    “Alright.” Glancing around, she found the goliath structure immediately. “The line… is absolutely massive.”

 

    “It’ll thin out when the fireworks start, but that shouldn’t be for another hour. We shouldn’t be in line that long. You still wanna go?” Neptune looked to Weiss after he was met with silence. He searched a little more frantically when he realized she wasn’t near him anymore, and eventually spied her by the dividers for the carousel. “Or do you want to go on that first?” he asked as he walked up behind her.

 

    “It’s a children’s ride, isn’t it?” she asked, a hint of disappointment coloring her voice.

 

    “I mean, yeah, but there are plenty of couples or older siblings that get on this thing. Even elderly people will ride it since they can’t handle a lot of the other attractions.” Looking back to the passengers getting off, she watched as an older woman hobbled by with what was probably her grandchildren. One of them looked to be at least Ruby’s age and he was doing his best to corral the four that could walk on their own. The infant strapped to his back giggled as he chased them around. One of the children slipped through a crack in the barricade between them. “Come here, rugrat!” Neptune said playfully as he swooped down and picked up the little boy under his arms, before dropping him back off on the other side of the wall. “Go back to your family before you get lost.” A chuckle next to him brought his attention back to Weiss. Gently, he grabbed her hand and led her to the line.

\-----------------

    Ruby watched from her rooftop perch as dozens of armored officers swarmed the warehouse. She glanced down at Coco, who nodded and readied… her handbag. Ruby rolled her eyes. _Where’s Coco’s weapon? Why’d she bring her handbag?_ A loud, rapid popping came from the compound.

 

    “Guys,” Velvet began over the scrolls, “the plan fell apart. There’s a massive firefight in the warehouse! Get in there and aid the officers! Now!”

 

    “Coco!” Ruby shouted. The fashionista nodded and sprinted to the warehouse.

\---------------

    “So, how are you enjoying tonight?” Neptune asked as he and Weiss sat in a ferris wheel car, slowly ascending to the top, pausing every now and again.

 

    “I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun,” Weiss said, a bright smile on her face. “I’m glad you suggested the fair. Thank you.”

 

    “Any time,” Neptune said, returning her smile.

 

    “You know, my family would never have let me come to any place so… public,” Weiss said, staring out the window at the cityscape, Beacon in the distance.

 

    “Why’s that?” Neptune asked.

 

    “I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with my name? It’d be easy to make off with the young daughter of a corrupt trillionaire and demand ransom.” She knew she was lying, and hoped the stone mask she spent years crafting held up.

 

    “I guess that makes sense,” Neptune shrugged.

 

    Weiss nodded. Flashing lights a little over a mile away caught her attention. She pretended to squint. “Hey, what’s that in the distance?” she asked, despite having no trouble seeing the police swarming a warehouse.

 

    “I don’t know,” Neptune replied. “I just see a bunch of flashing lights.”

 

    “Can’t you use the zoom function on your scroll to see?” she asked again as she counted police cars.

 

    “Oh yeah.” Taking the scroll out of his pocket, he zoomed in as far as it would go. “Lots of police cars.”

 

    “How many?” Weiss asked.

 

    A momentary silence. “Twenty.”

 

“That’s definitely them,” Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in disappointment.

\---------------

    “You know,” Sun began, knocking out several current White Fang members with a single pass of his staff, “I was hoping for a more romantic evening,” he deftly blocked a machete to his back, then knocked out that attacker, as well, “but I guess this will have to do.”

 

    Jaune and Pyrrha charged into the fray, the former plowing through a cluster of Fang members with his shield. Parrying a machete with his sword, a solid shield bash sent the aggressor flying back a few feet. Pyrrha, however, used her shield as a boomerang, knocking at least one White Fang operative off the scaffolding and into the mass of bodies below. Deftly avoiding a machete strike, she twirled and brought the hilt of her xephos on the back of her attacker’s skull, sending him to the floor in a heap. An explosion rocked the warehouse, cement chunks wounding several operatives as Ren and Nora flew in through the hole.

 

    “Let’s party!” Nora exclaimed, extending her grenade launcher into a massive hammer. “Batter up!” she shouted, using the comically oversized weapon to bat away a charging foe.

 

    “You insolent rats!” The officer exclaimed, procuring a massive chainsaw from… somewhere. He charged Jaune, who had his back turned to him. Bringing the oversized chainsaw down, the blade collided with a solid mass of what appeared to be rose petals, before the mass pushed back, revealing a young bird faunus wielding an equally giant scythe. “Traitor!”

 

    “Better a traitor than a murderer!” Ruby shouted, evading another attack with the chainsaw, using the rifle portion of her scythe to catapult over the officer, then grabbing his leg with the blade to trip him up, sending him to the ground. “Honestly, is this who the White Fang are employing these days?” she sighed. “You can’t even handle a girl two years younger than her friends…” The need to deflect a chainsaw with her weapon interrupted her sentence, a following fist sending her flying into the stage, striking the edge between two vertebrae, causing her to cry out in pain.

 

    “Such a waste,” the officer sighed, ambling up to her and preparing his weapon. “Now I will show you the power of the-” He was cut off by the roar of a motorcycle’s engine, as said motorcycle crashed down on top of his head and barreled into the cluster of White Fang operatives.

 

    “Ruby!” Yang exclaimed as she and Velvet dismounted the bike, the latter joining the fray. “Are you alright?”

 

    Ruby said nothing, but smiled and gave a thumbs-up in response. Whatever damage the stage had done to her back, her aura had already taken care of it. _At least I didn’t take a flying motorcycle to the face…_ No sooner did she stand up than Coco strutted in through the door and pushed her way through the crowd of officers, handbag expanding into a minigun of ludicrous proportions. The few White Fang who saw her immediately dropped their weapons and held their hands up in surrender, causing more to do the same.

 

    “Well,” Coco began, pausing, “that was anticlimactic.” A few officers ran up and tackled Blake and Sun, cuffing them. “Hey, wait a minute. Those two are our allies!”

 

    “What!?” One of the officers exclaimed. “They’re wearing White Fang masks, just like the rest of them!”

 

    “They’re students at Beacon,” Ruby said., pulling up their identification on her scroll. “They volunteered to infiltrate and record the meeting in case we couldn’t get anyone to talk or a consistent story.”

 

    “Aren’t you the monkey from the docks?” one of the officers nearby commented.

 

    “Uh, nope! Pretty sure you’re confusing me for someone else!” Sun replied, nearly hitting a falsetto.

 

    The officer raised an eyebrow as he turned back to cuffing the recruits trying to sneak away. “Whatever, you no-good stowaway.”

 

    “Hey!--”

 

    “If you want to get out of a ticket, then maybe you should drop it pal,” another officer muttered to him under his breath.

 

    “You know,” Sun said as his nerves relaxed a little, “you guys aren’t half bad.”

\---------------

    “I’ll admit, I’m… having a lot of fun tonight,” Weiss said, looking at Neptune briefly as they watched the fireworks.

 

    “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” Neptune exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “Why don’t I take a picture of you with the fireworks in the background?”

 

    “Are you sure?” Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

    “Of course! Come on, it'll only take a few seconds!”

 

    “Alright, alright!” Weiss giggled, handing off the stuffed Nevermore to him. Neptune took a position a few feet away while she leaned against the railing. She flicked her hair out of the way and gave a soft smile, the sound of his scroll’s camera clicking a few times was lost in the popping of more fireworks.

 

    “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got!” Neptune said, walking up to her. “Talk about timing…”

\-------------

“So, how’d it go?” Yang asked as Neptune exited the dorm complex. The rest of her team and friends, as well as Sun and two girls he didn’t recognize accompanied the blonde.

 

“She had fun,” Neptune said, scratching the back of his head, his smile fading quickly. “At least… she said she did.”

 

“What happened?” Pyrrha asked, concerned.

 

“Well, I took a photo, and she just went quiet and walked off. She said I didn’t do anything wrong, but that’s not how she’s acting.” He took his scroll out of his pocket and flicked over to the most recent pictures. “Be honest, is there something wrong with these pictures?” He showed several pictures of Weiss leaning against a concrete rail, white fireworks forming what looked like halfway-extended wings.

 

“Pretty,” Ruby said.

 

“Wow, those are good,” Coco said.

 

“The fireworks look like wings, but I don’t think that would set her off,” Pyrrha noted. “Did you call her something she didn’t like?”

 

“No, I just showed her the pictures, and… well, you know the rest. She’s not in the mood to talk, right now. I’m not really sure if that’s just me, or everybody.”

 

“We’ll talk to her tomorrow, see if we can’t figure something out,” Yang said. “You and Sun should just head back to your dorm. I’m sure your teammates would like to know how your date with the Ice Queen went!” she continued as they walked into their complex and headed up to their dorm. 

 

Everyone was mostly silent, their footsteps echoing in the stairwell. “So… are you guys going to try to talk to her tonight?” Jaune pried gently as they reached the second floor.

 

“It depends,” Blake replied. “Usually, Weiss is pretty vocal when she dislikes something, so if she’s shutting Neptune out, then she might shut us all out.”

 

“Who does she talk to the most?” Nora chimed in. “Probably Ruby,” she continued as they rounded the corner of the landing and proceeded up yet another flight of stairs.

 

“That makes a lot of sense now that you mention it,” Yang said thoughtfully. 

 

“It might be best to start simple,” Ren supplied. “Just ask her if she’s all right.”

 

“I dunno, she got pretty mad at me the last time I tried to talk to her and she was already in bed.”

 

They stopped just outside the access to the fourth floor. “Well, we have to try something. Would you rather one of us tried to talk to her?” Blake asked.

 

“With all due respect Blake, you get into quite a few arguments with Weiss as is, and while Yang does have her soft moments,” Pyrrha said as she turned to each of them respectively, “you don’t exactly have the deeper connection you need to read her, do you?”

 

Yang sighed. “She’s got a point, Blake.” Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she spied her leader. “I think you’re stuck, Ruby.”

 

Ruby sighed as she turned and pushed the door to the hallway open. “All right, all right, I’ll try to talk to her! But you owe me if she explodes like she did the last time.” 

 

Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha exchanged looks as Yang shrugged, uncertain of what they could possibly do for Ruby if such a thing were to happen. Following her through the door, they made the remainder of the trip in complete silence. Stopping at their dorms, JNPR waited as Blake touched her scroll to the sensor. Grabbing the handle, Blake swung the door open part way to reveal a dark room, save the light now filtering in from the hallway. In the darkness, she spied Weiss in her bunk, back to the door. Opening it a little further to allow her and her teammates access, she stepped inside and made a beeline for her bunk, Ruby close on her heels. 

 

“Weiss?” Ruby murmured just above a whisper as she made her way to the side of the heiress’ bed. Having obtained her bed clothes, Blake made her way to the dorm’s lone bathroom with the intention to shower. “Weiss? Are you awake?” 

 

Blake turned to look at her team as she stood in the bathroom doorway when Ruby’s question was met with silence. Yang stood just inside, propping the door open for JNPR to watch while Ruby stood in the center of the room staring at Weiss’ back, clearly nervous. Looking down slightly, she also saw the heiress’ sleeping face and the only part of her not covered by the heavy comforter. Whipping out her scroll, she tapped a few buttons and then closed it. A small buzz answered her a minute later. Reading the text, she tapped away at her screen again, this message slightly longer, but somehow urgent. After pressing send, she stalked back over to the group, grabbing Ruby by her collar on the way, and ushered everyone back out into the hallway.

 

Ensuring the door was cracked so they wouldn’t have to unlock it again, she turned to her friends. “She’s already asleep.”

 

“Okay, so why are we out here?” Yang asked, mildly upset that they weren’t able to go to bed just yet.

 

“Well-,” Blake began as another buzz interrupted her. Opening her scroll, she read another message and sighed before typing furiously. Instead of sending her reply, she looked to the group and continued her statement. “She cried herself to sleep.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

Blake dropped her scroll and bedclothes as she hurriedly slapped a hand over Yang and Jaune’s mouths. “Would you idiots be quiet! There’s nothing we can do now.” Blake exhaled slowly after a moment and released them. “I’m asking Sun if he and Neptune can meet up with us again tomorrow and give us a full rundown of what happened.”

 

“I have a question!” Nora said, her voice loud even in her attempt to speak at a lower volume and causing everyone to shrink a little.

 

Peeking back into the room, Blake made certain Weiss was still asleep. “Yes, Nora?” the cat faunus groaned.

 

“How do you know she was crying?” Nora hissed, her attempt at being quieter almost comical.

 

“I do have night vision, you know, so I can see that her eyes are puffy and kind of red…” 

 

“Oh yeah…”

 

“That and she didn’t wipe all of her makeup off.”

 

“This information makes the situation more distressing,” Pyrrha murmured. 

 

“I think we should let her have some space for the next day or two,” Ruby said quietly as everyone stared at her in shock.

 

“But--,” Jaune began.

 

“I don’t like it either, but she’s not going to talk to us if we constantly pester her,” Ruby said. “Take it from someone with experience.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lastly, the company picnic is this Sunday! (And don't forget to bring your own juice this time...)


	9. The Day After

“Morning, Weiss,” Yang said, marching into the bathroom and grabbing her toothbrush as Weiss brushed her hair. “Hey, when you’re done, can I borrow your hairbrush? Mine broke, and I haven’t made time to go to the store.”

 

“Fine, just… don’t destroy it if it pulls some of your hair out,” Weiss said, managing a sort of half smile. Yang chuckled in response.

 

“So, how was your date?”

 

“Oh, it was… fun,” Weiss said. She hadn’t intended to hesitate. At least Yang was polite enough to finish brushing her teeth before asking her next question.

 

“Fun, huh?” Yang asked, wiping her mouth off on a tissue. “Did you… wear his shirt?”

 

“Did I… what?”

 

“Oh, you know,” Yang said, smiling and rolling her eyes.

 

“No, we didn’t do any of that,” Weiss sighed. “A first date isn’t really the time for such… raunchy activities.”

 

“Whatever floats your boat,” Yang smirked. Weiss handed the brush off to her. “Hey, Weiss? You were talking in your sleep again. I think you should see someone if you’re having recurring nightmares.”

 

“Thanks for your concern, but I don’t suffer from nightmares like you think I do,” Weiss said, gathering her clothes and heading toward the closet. Yang sighed and shook her head, starting to brush her wild mane.

 

“So, how’d the talk go?” Blake asked, wetting her toothbrush.

 

“About as well as you’d expect,” Yang said.

 

“And?”

 

“Well, they didn’t get steamy with each other…”

 

“Yang, that’s not what I mean.”

 

“She tried to joke,” Yang began, “and she said she had fun last night. Guess we’ll know when we talk to Neptune, huh?” Blake hummed in agreement.

\---------------

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Neptune said, pacing. “She was smiling the entire night, then I take a picture, and she just… shuts down?”

 

“Neither does crying herself to sleep,” Blake said, folding her arms. “I swear, the more we think about this, the more questions we give ourselves, and it doesn’t seem we’re any closer to finding answers.”

 

“Maybe something happened in the past?” Yang suggested. “I know some people come down with this mental disorder that can cause them to go crazy for a few minutes. What’s it called, again?”

 

“Post-Traumatic Stress,” Ruby said. “I doubt Weiss has it. She told me she got that scar on her face from fighting a modified Arma Gigas, but she didn’t go into specifics. You’d think if she had PTSD, she’d go into some kind of auto-pilot or flashback mode or something at the first sound of clashing metal.”

 

“It could be optical PTSD, Ruby,” Blake said. “Not everyone shows symptoms whenever a balloon pops in the store, or a car peels out. Sometimes, they need a specific trigger.”

 

“Ya think she could have been attacked by a White Fang thug with wings?” Sun chimed in. “I mean, they’ve got it out for her, and if it was bad enough…”

 

“Sun, I have wings,” Ruby said. “She showed no such symptoms when we first met. Instead, I was met with anger.”

 

Yang rubbed her forehead and let out a frustrated growl. “This is getting us nowhere! We’re running in circles, here!”

 

“Maybe we should just ask her in a day or so?” Ruby suggested. “It’s too soon to ask her about it, now. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried, it’s just… I don’t want to make her feel insulted when she might already feel vulnerable. You know?”

 

“I get what you’re saying,” Yang said. “Still, I’m worried about her.”

 

“Unless she tells us, we can only speculate,” Blake said. “Ruby, find Weiss and see what she’s doing, which is most likely studying or researching in the library. I’ll be with you afterward. Yang, wait about ten minutes, then bring the most complicated game you have. She loves mental challenges.”

 

“You got it,” the sisters said in unison.

 

“What about us?” Sun asked.

 

“You two meet up with us in about half an hour. Don’t over-do anything, or she might get suspicious. Just be yourselves. Neptune, that means approach her as if it weren’t my idea.”

 

“Right.”

\------------

“Oh, hey Weiss,” Ruby said, taking a seat at the table. “What are you studying?”

 

“Grimm,” Weiss replied. “I want to figure out what that stuffed doll I won is modeled after.”

 

“The Nevermore?”

 

Weiss gave a quiet chuckle. “No, you dunce.” She peered up from her book to look at her avian friend. “I think I won’t ever forget what one of  _ those _ looks like, given it was your idea to hitch a ride on one.”

 

“Oh, yeah.”

 

“Remember that picture I sent you? It’s the one on Neptune’s head.”

 

“Oh, you mean the Seer!” Ruby exclaimed, just as Blake walked up to the table.

 

“What’s this about a psychic?” the cat asked.

 

“Don’t play koi, Blake,” Weiss said, furiously turning pages to the ‘S’ section of the huge book she was reading. “I know you heard our conversation as soon as you walked in here.”

 

“Fair enough,” Blake said, eyeing the page Weiss stopped at. It showed a drawing of a tentacled Grimm with a spherical body.

 

“By the way, Ruby, how did you know what this particular Grimm was called?”

 

“Oh, Uncle Qrow does a lot of field work, so he gets to see a lot of interesting monsters.”

 

“Let’s see…  _ Prefers to use tentacles to lacerate enemies. Solitary orb on top of the body enables this Grimm to see in any direction except directly beneath unobstructed. _ ” Weiss clicked her tongue and closed the book, then turned to Blake. “You were thinking those tentacles were for other purposes, weren’t you?”

 

“Wha- No!” Blake exclaimed, blushing tremendously. A snicker from the next table caught their attention. Jaune was trying to stifle his laughter, while Nora was on the verge of falling asleep, Ren and Pyrrha studying dutifully.

 

“Nice one, Weiss,” Ruby chuckled. “I’m guessing your date with Neptune went well? You’re actually joking around today.”

 

“We had a lot of fun,” Weiss said. “Tried some of the games, at least two of which  _ Nora broke, _ ” she growled, turning around to a startled-awake grenadier. “Went on a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel, watched the fireworks, all the usual stuff you and Yang probably did when you were younger, considering your parents weren’t completely self-absorbed and pretentious. Well, they weren’t like my father, at least.”

 

“Yikes,” Ruby cringed. “Sounds like your childhood was kind of rough.”

 

“You don’t know the half of it,” Weiss sighed. “Anything less than absolute perfection was met with scorn and disdain.” She dropped her voice to a low whisper. “Just like the days I got my scars…”

 

“So, what else did you do?” Ruby asked, quickly changing the subject. “Did you run into anyone you knew? What was your favorite attraction?”

 

“Well, the only person I actually knew that we encountered was Yatsuhashi. Neptune ran across him and his other teammate, Sage when I was being harassed by some faunus while trying to eat dinner. Turns out, it was Nora and not Yatsuhashi or Yang that broke both the Tower of Power and Whack-a-Grimm games.”

 

“What about me and broken games?” a familiar voice asked. They turned to find Yang carrying a board game to their table.

 

“Oh, just how I initially thought it was you who broke one of the attractions and was dead-set on ruining an otherwise fun evening.”

 

“Speaking of which…”

 

“Where were you three last night?” Weiss interrupted. The others all froze up, and she swore she heard JNPR stop working.

 

“We were, uh,” Yang stammered.

 

“Here’s a deal, Weiss,” Blake began, “you ask one, we ask one. Fair?”

 

“Fair. But I expect complete and honest answers out of all of you,” Weiss said.

 

“Then you understand that we expect the same from you, too,” Blake assumed.

 

_ Well done, Weiss. You’ve just talked your way into a corner. Better get to work on a convincing lie in case they ask about the photo Neptune took… _ “Why were there twenty police cars surrounding a warehouse in the city?” she asked, procuring a photo of said cars on her scroll.

 

“Oh,” Yang began, pausing, “that…”

 

“And before you try to lie your way out of it,” she said as she zoomed in super far on an already mega-zoomed picture, “I’ve already contacted the Vale police and confirmed that you all were there.” Turning her scrolls screen back to them, Yang’s golden mane, while pixelated to hell was still recognizable. Even if they could argue her hair, they couldn’t argue Yang’s bike, Bumblebee, in the background.

 

Blake gave an exasperated sigh. “While you were on your date, we broke up a White Fang meeting with Coco, Velvet, Sun, and Team Juniper.”

 

“And you didn’t even invite me!?”

 

“Weiss,” Ruby began, “you’ve been under a lot of stress as of late. You needed an opportunity to unwind. Besides, the Fang already has it out for your family. We didn’t want to give them another reason to come after you.”

 

“Now, it’s our turn,” Blake said. “Neptune was standing in front of our dorm building and couldn’t tell us if you actually had a good time. What happened that made it take such a sharp turn?” Weiss’ mind ground to a halt. She expected them to ease the question onto her, not be so up front about it. “And before you try to lie your way out of it, he showed us the picture that supposedly ruined everything. I think you know the one I’m talking about.”

 

“Blake!” Ruby growled. Weiss held up her hand to refrain her leader from talking.

 

“Very well,” Weiss said, giving a slight pause. “Remember how I told you I got this scar? Well, the next machination my father ordered was a fast, winged biped. It was capable of flight, and could dive vertically up to 200 miles per hour. This one didn’t just give me a few scars. It nearly killed me.” Truthfully, the thing was only a good challenge. “That’s the truth behind the scars on my back. It got behind me and I couldn’t bring my aura up in time-”

 

“Yeesh, Weiss, you don’t have to continue!” Yang exclaimed. “We get it. Your dad’s an abusive dick who tried to kill you.”

 

“Oh my god,” Pyrrha said just loud enough for them to hear. All of Team JNPR was staring, slack-jawed.

 

“She said dick,” Nora whispered to her table, her voice very audible in the near-total silence of the library.

 

“So other than a traumatizing memory sparked by deja vu, you actually had a good night?” Blake asked.

 

“That’s two questions in a row! But yes, I did have a good night, otherwise.” Weiss said.

 

“Any other questions for us, Weiss?” Ruby asked.

 

“Did you three actually see teachers after Port’s class, or was that just a bluff?” Weiss asked, pointing between her teammates.

 

“It was a bluff,” Ruby answered, ashamed. “We rendezvoused with Coco, Velvet, and Team Juniper to discuss how we were going to break up a White Fang meeting. I’m sorry I lied to you. Still, the last thing you need is a bigger target on your back for helping us do what we did, and the destressing probably didn’t hurt either.”

 

“I guess since we’re apologizing, I should probably say I’m sorry for possibly making you watch your back all night instead of enjoying yourself,” Yang said, rubbing the back of her head and diverting her gaze.

 

“And I’m sorry I didn’t trust you enough to leave me alone for a few hours,” Weiss said, making eye contact with Yang.

 

“We’re absolutely taking Neptune’s advice though,” Ruby chimed in with a laugh.

 

“Aaand what advice would that be, exactly…” Weiss wondered sardonically.

 

“To take you out on our own kind of dates, of course!” Yang exclaimed.

 

“Not  what I said, but close enough,” Neptune said, approaching the group alongside Sun.

 

“That’s the next gayest thing I’ve ever heard…” Weiss sighed.

 

“What was the first?” Blake asked, perplexed.

 

Neptune gave a defeated sigh. “Okay, so you guys know about the teacups that are often at fairs, right?”

 

“Who doesn’t?” Jaune asked as he and his team walked over. “My parents would always go on that one while my sisters would drag me onto the fastest roller coaster at the park.” Ren was the last to arrive, practically dragged by Nora.

 

“Do you wanna tell them, or should I tell them?” Sun asked.

 

“I’ll do it,” Neptune sighed. “Sun, here thought it would be a great idea to literally carry me over his shoulder and force me to go onto the ride with him. That was bad enough. He also insisted we spin the cup as fast as we could. We broke the tensioner in the process and got kicked out.”

 

“You’re still hung up on that?” Sun asked. “I don’t see what the big deal is…”

 

“Other than the fact Scarlet and Sage still haven’t quit giving me crap about our supposed date? You’re a great friend and all, Sun, but sometimes you can be a little too impulsive for your own good,” Neptune said, pointing an accusing finger in the monkey faunus’ face before storming off.

 

“Wait! Neptune! What about the-”

 

“Get bent!” Neptune exclaimed.

 

“He’s just embarrassed,” Sun said as he turned to the two teams. “He’ll come around eventually. I’m going to make sure he doesn’t do anything rash.”

 

“So, what else did you guys do last night?” Nora asked, excited as Sun left the group.

 

“Well, we went to a photo booth and took some pictures. Some are weirder than others…”

 

“I wanna see! I wanna see!” Ruby exclaimed, trying to huddle as close to Weiss as possible.

 

“Give me a minute!” Weiss scolded, pushing Ruby away by the face. She unlocked her scroll and flicked over to photographs. The first one to appear was Neptune in a bikini and Weiss with massive arms.

 

“Okay, that’s a little weird, but kind of typical for a photobooth,” Jaune said. After flicking over a few more photos of varying silliness, she came to one of her staring seriously at the camera with Neptune standing to her side, proudly posing in a fine pink dress, water balloon boobs, and a gaudy tiara.

 

“Princess Neptune!” Ruby exclaimed, the whole group busting out in laughter. After a moment for them to catch their breath, Weiss scrolled through another few photos, this time stopping at one where she and Neptune stood back to back, him in a tuxedo and Weiss wearing a red dress with a split all the way up to the hip. Neptune clearly held a pistol in front of him, while Weiss was holding what appeared to be an Uzi by her hip. Foam darts were stuck to the walls behind them.

 

“My god, that’s hot,” Yang said, noting Weiss’ dress.

 

“Okay, I think that’s enough for one day,” Weiss said, trying to put her scroll away before it was snatched by a nosy Yang. “Give that back!”

 

“A carousel, Weiss?” Yang chuckled, displaying a photo of a smiling heiress on the attraction, who turned red with embarrassment. “Never thought you’d be the type to ride something like that. Still, you have a really pretty smile. You should show it more often.”

 

“If your next comment is something about ‘who’ I could ride, I’m going to demonstrate where you can put that scroll,” Weiss growled. “Then you’re going to buy me a new one.”

 

“What?” Yang questioned, exasperated. “I’m serious! You look like you’re having the time of your life. I just wish we’d see that side of you more often…” She handed the device back to Weiss.

 

“You know what I think?” Ruby chimed in.

 

“Oh, here we go,” Blake said.

 

“What’s gotten into that head of yours, now? It better not be hitching a ride on a Nevermore again!” Weiss exclaimed.

 

“Hah! No. I think we should go to the fair while it’s still in town. I wonder what kind of photos we can take at the booth?” Ruby said, rubbing her chin.

 

“Oh good grief! You’re just out to make a fool out of me now.”

 

“We’re willing to look like fools with you. What else are friends for?” Yang said as she set the game down on the table.

 

“Apparently they’re also for dragging you to and through their own versions of fun, if your game of choice is anything to go by,” Weiss groaned as she eyed Remnant: The Game warily. Team JNPR audibly returned to their table.

 

“You mean you don’t like playing with us?” Ruby asked, saddened.

 

“I mean I’m terrible at this game!”

 

“You just have to play it a few more times, Weiss,” Blake said calmly as she helped Yang unpack the board and pieces. “If you remember correctly, I didn’t fare much better in my first game, either.”

 

“I hope Neptune didn’t take our finding that story humorous too personally,” Yang said as the team each drew a Region card. “I got Vale. What did you guys get?”

 

“Mistral,” Ruby said.

 

“Vacuo,” Blake replied.

 

“I… also got Vacuo,” Weiss said. She and Blake put the cards back into the deck and redrew. “Atlas.”

 

“Vacuo, again. It’s a shame Menagerie isn’t an option,” Blake sighed. “The natural hazards on and surrounding the island make it its own kind of threat.”

 

“You’d think they’d update the game after a few decades,” Yang said, picking up the box. “Who makes this game, anyway?”

 

“I don’t think it matters,” Weiss said as Blake glared at her. “No matter who makes it, PR is going to make sure controversial elements are left out, which includes Menagerie, unfortunately.”

 

“That’s frustrating to say the least. It could be an educational element for a lot of people who have never been there,” Blake grumbled as she and Weiss got up to trade seats. As they learned from one of their initial playthroughs, it was best to be on the side of the board your continent was closest to.

 

“Are you… from Menagerie?” Ruby asked, wide-eyed as she paused mid-shuffle.

 

“Not so loud,” Blake hissed as she sat in her new seat. Then after glancing around the room continued, “but yes, I’m from Menagerie.”

 

“Well, considering you’ve had first-hand experience with the island,” Weiss began quietly, “I think we could all use your knowledge on any assignments concerning it.”

 

“I’ll consider it,” Blake said as Yang began distributing cards.

 

“It’s that, or we’ll have conflicting information in our reports and someone is going to fail,” Weiss said. “Whether it’s you or us, though, depends on how Oobleck decides he wants to grade our papers.”

 

“How about you guys actually do the research, and I’ll tell you if it’s accurate according to Menagerie’s historical records,” Blake growled.

 

“Fair, but we still wanna know about your hometown,” Yang said.

 

“In time,” Blake assured as they got the game rolling. No sooner had they gotten all their pieces set up than Sun and Neptune returned. “Back so soon?”

 

“Yeah, he gave me a lecture right outside the library,” Sun said.

 

“I… think I’m okay now,” Neptune said. “I thought libraries were for reading?”

 

“Ah, don’t pay any attention to the nerd,” Sun said jokingly.

 

“He’s right, though,” Weiss said. “You two tend to get obnoxiously loud, so I don’t know why we didn’t just go to the dorm.”

 

“We’re all here, anyway,” Yang began, “so why not? By the way, Neptune, are you going to be wearing that dress to the dance that’s in a few weeks?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Weiss began, “it’s almost a month from today. We need to go shopping!”

 

“Dress?” Neptune questioned, suspicious. “What dress?”

 

“Oh you know the one… Princess,” Ruby snickered before succumbing to a giggling fit.

 

“Princess!? You didn’t!”

 

“I did...”

 

“Weiss! How could you?”

 

“I wasn’t going to show them the rest of the pictures, but Yang stole my scroll,” Weiss explained, giving a tired sigh. “Besides, now these dolts want to go back and see what mischief they can create with four people….”

 

“That- That’s just… Argh!” Neptune shouted before storming off again.

 

“I have no idea what you guys are talking about…” Sun said dejectedly as he watched Neptune stomp through to front door of the library.

 

“He didn’t show you guys the pictures?” Blake asked as her bow twitched.

 

“I mean he did, but I think he’s hiding at least some of them.”

 

“Here,” Weiss said as she pulled her scroll out again. Opening her pictures file and selecting a stream, she then handed it off to Sun.

 

“Seen it, seen it, seen it… oh…Pfft!” Dropping her scroll back on the table, the monkey faunus turned and sprinted towards the front door as he shouted for ‘Princess Vasilias’ the whole way.

 

“You’re showing us those later,” Nora butted in from JNPR’s study group as RWBY looked at them in unison. 

 

“Thanks, guys,” Weiss sighed.

 

“What?” Yang asked.

 

“Thanks for possibly irreparably damaging a relationship I  _ just _ got into.”

 

“Don’t act like you didn’t do anything to help make that happen. He was a skirt-chaser, anyway,” Yang said bitterly.

 

“Angry outbursts don’t tend to be a sign of good things to come, Weiss,” Blake replied sourly.

 

“Believe me, I know. My father never yelled at his family because he was happy with them.”

 

“And I guess we can thank Neptune for killing the mood,” Yang sighed, tossing her cards onto the table and resting her head on her arms.

 

Weiss looked over the cards as she stared at the tabletop. Blinking, she looked back to her hand. “Of course, this  _ would  _ be the one game I start with the hand to take you out immediately and now we’re just not in the mood to play...”

 

“You’re joking,” Blake said incredulously.

 

“Holy crap, no she isn’t!” Ruby said as she peeked over Weiss’ shoulder. “She’s got all the best cards for Atlas AND the gateway cards for them!”

 

“And like clockwork, favor falls into my lap, only to be snatched away… again.”

 

“I seem to remember you dreading this game when we first walked in here,” Yang muttered.

 

“Well, since we’re all in a relatively sour mood anyway, do we want to go down to the ballroom and argue about decorations for the upcoming dance?” Blake sighed as she set her hand facedown on the table, just in case they decided they wanted to play anyway.

 

“Sure. It’s not like the decorations will hang themselves,” Weiss said.

 

“Wait, you guys are running decorations for the dance?” Jaune asked.

 

“Yeah, Professor Goodwitch ran it by us the other day. Apparently Team Coffee is unlikely to make it back before the dance to set up, so she asked us if we’d mind taking care of it,” Yang said.

 

“Oh, um, good luck, then,” Jaune said as the team packed up the game and exited the library.

 

“Why don’t you give Jaune a chance, Weiss?” Yang asked the moment they exited the library. “He hasn’t shown himself to have the same anger issues as Neptune.”

 

Weiss sighed. “First of all, he needs to realize Pyrrha has a serious crush on him. I mean, I don’t think there’s a single person in this school who doesn’t see it. Second, yes he’s a kind person, but not only does he try too hard, he lacks both tact and assertiveness. Third, I just don’t think anything would come of it. We have no… chemistry?”

 

“You mean you’re not interested in him,” Blake summarized.

 

“That too.”

 

“I guess attraction is a two way street. I still think you’re being rather unfair to him,” Yang said, folding her arms behind her head as they walked.

“Well, guess what? Life’s not fair.”  _ I should know… _

\---------------

“What are you talking about, Sun!?” Neptune growled.

 

“I’m saying you should go back in there and apologize,” Sun said. “They were just having fun! I’ve heard things, you know. I’ve heard Weiss’ father would yell at her every chance he got.”

 

“And where did you read that?” Neptune laughed, finding the notion ridiculous. “Some tabloid with a reputation for publishing false stories?”

 

“Word gets around in Vacuo, Neptune. Everything from White Fang activity to celebrity gossip,” Sun said as he turned and started walking away. “I’m not going to make this decision for you… Princess.”

“Not buying it. You just want me to go back in there so you all can have a nice long laugh to my face.”

 

A strong grip on his shoulder stopped Neptune in his tracks. “...And then what happens if the stories are true? What happens if she actually did like you, and you just made yourself look like her father? How do you fix that, genius?”


	10. Dance, Dance, Repudiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone was wondering and getting anxious, our projected, complete break from canon will be as early as Chapter 15 to potentially as late as Chapter 20. This is solely dependent on how much of canon we decide to incorporate or interrupt. Like so in this chapter. Also, has anyone noticed? We're missing some key players from canon. Even the canon events won't be totally canon! Yay excitement!   
> Thanks for following and we really hope you enjoy this new chapter. ~Ship

Weiss sighed. There was a lot less discussion about either the dance or decor than she’d hoped. Ruby was on the verge of falling asleep due to boredom, and Blake had her nose in a book while Yang busied herself arranging sound equipment. She set a subwoofer cluster down with enough force to cause the table Ruby was resting at to launch a short distance into the air.

 

“Hey, Blake,” Yang began, “what are you reading?”

 

“And why aren’t either of you helping us plan or even just decorate?”

 

Blake peered up from her book. “Sorry, I had left off at an interesting part and wanted to finish. It took longer to get through it than I thought.”

 

“I’m just totally lost,” Ruby said, not taking her head off her arms.

 

“Well, you two have a choice,” Yang said. “You can either help me decorate, or you can help Weiss plan.”

 

Blake and Ruby looked at each other and shrugged, with the red bird going off to help Yang, Blake looking over Weiss’ notes and blueprints.

 

“Why do you have two sample palettes of the same color?” Blake asked, noting the grey tabs with no discernable color difference.

 

“Excuse you,” Weiss scoffed. “This one’s Atlesian Gray, and this one’s Overcast Grey.”

 

“Nice to see the Atlesians are such… colorful individuals,” Blake said, still not seeing a difference between the two samples.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Weiss asked, mildly offended.

 

“It means I still can’t see a difference. In case you’ve forgotten, my eyes are the best of our team… why are you laughing?”

 

“What’s your vision score?” Weiss asked, confident, knowing no matter what number the cat gave, she was always going to beat it. Unless it was something completely absurd, of course. 

 

“20/15. Why?”

 

“Mine sits at a comfortable 20/10,” she replied smugly, rubbing her nails against her chest. “You still have me in night vision, though, so don’t feel too bad.”

 

“Whatever,” Blake said, rolling her eyes. “Just because you can see a difference between two nearly identical shades of grey doesn’t mean anyone else would notice if you put the two ‘different’-color tablecloths in the same room. At least offer some real variety…”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Princess Belladonna!” Weiss exclaimed sardonically, giving a false bow. “Do you want me to go crawling around the backside of the woods in search of color samples?”

 

“That’s not what I mean,” Blake sighed. “Just make sure there’s a noticeable difference between the shades, next time. They look exactly the same.”

 

“Alright, alright!” Weiss said, flailing her hands around. “Show me a couple of shades that have a noticeable difference to you.” Blake cocked an eyebrow and removed two white-shaded samples from the book; one nearly a pure white, the other with a faint, yet noticeable yellow tint.

 

“Pearl and eggshell. The difference is subtle, but actually noticeable.”

 

“Okay, you’ve got me,” Weiss sighed.

 

“Weiss!” Yang exclaimed from across the room, holding up a circular, perforated piece of fabric. “I thought we agreed? No doilies!”

 

“If I don’t get doilies,  _ you  _ don’t get fog machines!” Weiss shot back.

 

“That seems like a rather... contradictory design choice,” Blake noted. The door loudly clicked open behind them, Sun and Neptune striding up to Weiss and Blake.

 

“Your dance is gonna have fog machines?” Neptune inquired.

 

“We were thinking about it,” Weiss replied, feeling both herself becoming bashful and Blake giving her a subtle glare.

 

“That’s pretty cool,” Neptune said, Yang and Ruby grouping up with them.

 

“You ladies excited for dress-up?” Sun asked, giving the team a pair of finger-guns as Ruby and Yang walked up.

 

“Yeah, right!” Ruby exclaimed as she snorted at the idea. “You’ve never had to wear heels!”

“Laugh all you want,” Yang began, “I’ll be turning so many heads, you won’t even recognize me.”

 

“So, what are you guys wearing?” Weiss asked.

 

“Uh, this?” Sun replied, gesturing to himself. Neptune butted in front of Sun and held up his hand in a motion for him to stop.

 

“Ignore him, for he knows not of what he says. Obviously, we’re going to be wearing our best.”

 

“Hey, I may have moved to Mistral,” Sun said, removing Neptune’s arm and gesturing to himself, “but I grew up in Vacuo. It’s not exactly a suit-and-tie kind of place.”

 

“Yeah, we’ve noticed,” Yang deadpanned.

 

“If you say that’s your best,” Neptune began, turning to Sun, “I’ll slap you so hard, even Moogle won’t be able to find you.”

 

“Upgrade, got it,” Sun said, scratching the back of his head. “So, have you guys-

 

“We still haven’t picked out our dresses,” Blake interrupted.

 

“Been too busy planning and decorating,” Ruby added.

 

“Well, what do you girls say to going shopping tomorrow?” Weiss asked. “I know a place.”

 

“Yeah, and a pair of socks from wherever you’re talking about is probably a few grand!” Yang exclaimed cynically.

 

“Suit yourself, Yang,” Weiss shrugged. “I guess you’d rather roll eyes than turn heads...”

 

“Just name the place so I can at least look it up!”

 

“The name is  _ Federkleid _ ,” Weiss said, smirking. “I’ll be there tomorrow, with or without you.”

 

“I mean, it’s not like we have to finish this today, either,” Blake said.

 

“Yeah, let’s go to the fair!” Ruby exclaimed, bolting out of the ballroom in a flurry of rose petals.

 

“The fair sounds fun,” Yang remarked.

 

“So, we’re going to the fair before they leave town?” Weiss asked, heading for the door. She stopped by Neptune. “I’m sorry for showing them embarrassing pictures-”

 

“No,” Neptune interrupted. “I’m sorry. I... shouldn’t have yelled. You were only having fun.”

 

Weiss stared at him, eyes wide and mouth agape in astonishment, disbelieving her ears. “Oh… um... Thank you.” She proceeded to exit the room, feeling her face turning into a wildfire.

 

Sun waited for a few seconds after the heavy door clicked shut behind her. “I’m telling you, man,” he began, “you have  _ no _ idea just how lucky you are! Don’t blow it.”

 

“Is it me, or was that the look of someone who had never been apologized to in their entire life?” Neptune pondered, scratching his head.

 

“More like she was shocked you were apologizing for something she thought was her fault,” Yang said.

\---------

“Okay, we’re at the fair. Now what?” Yang asked as they walked through the gaudy gate and turnstile. 

 

“Is there anything that you didn’t get to play when you were here yesterday, Weiss?” Blake asked as she held the collar of Ruby’s shirt to keep her from disappearing into the crowd.

 

“Well,” Weiss hummed as she put her hand on her chin thoughtfully. “Neptune didn’t want to do the dunk tank.”

 

“And you’re wearing white so it’s not very  _ Weiss  _ of you to do it yourself,” Yang snickered as Ruby checked her in the ribs with her elbow.

 

“You’re horrible,” Blake grumbled. “We should put you on the dunk tank.”

 

“Challenge accepted! Although I’m really not a fan of getting my hair wet…” Yang replied.

 

“Maybe you should have thought about that before turning my name into a bad joke.”

 

Twenty minutes and fifty lien later….

 

“You missed, Ice Queen!” Yang taunted from the collapsible chair.

 

“Call me that again and I’ll aim for your face!” Weiss called back as Blake readied her second shot. Between having the rather voluptuous blonde on the stand and the energetic exchanges with her team, the crowd had grown considerably in the two minutes they had been playing. Both Ruby and Weiss had missed or not quite hit the target hard enough with their first two shots and with only one shot left a piece, they were starting to worry the blonde would get away with her crime; the dad joke.

 

“Oh yea-!” Yang was cut off by a thud as the beanbag collided with the target and simultaneously dropped the seat out from under her, the cold water frothing from her sudden introduction. Pushing off the bottom of the tank, she coughed and sputtered when she finally breached the surface. “That was mean, Blakey!”

 

“Don’t make a bet you’re not prepared to lose,” Blake sassed as Yang hauled herself out and off the side of the attraction. Her clothes stuck and dragged in places that garnered the attention of a majority of the male populace, much to the teams chagrin.

 

“Oh, I was prepared to lose,” Yang said with a smirk, “and I’m pretty sure you didn’t consider the consequences!” Ruby and Blake gasped in unison as Yang grabbed them both and pulled them into a tight embrace, making sure to squeeze and get as much water on them as possible before finally letting go, much to the crowd’s further amusement. “Hey! No pictures buddy!” she snapped at a passerby with his scroll out and pointed their way.

 

Blake stepped back and awkwardly picked at the drenched half of her clothes. “I officially hate you for the next week.”

 

“Why didn’t you get Weiss too?” Ruby grumbled as she twisted the edge of her skirt in an attempt to wring out some of the water.

 

“Didn’t we already talk about this?” Weiss asked as the entire team stared blankly at Ruby.

 

Ruby stared back as her mind tried to summon the pieces of their earlier conversation. “Oh. Oh yeah…”

 

“Thank you, Yang. I didn’t expect you to actually carry through with the bet. You had every right to back out, you know.”

 

“I know, but you seemed like you really wanted to play it and I refuse to be called a chicken. Did you have fun?”

 

“Yes, actually. That was mildly cathartic.”

 

“Good, because any other answer would not have been worth it,” Yang said easily as Blake snickered. “What?”

 

“Oh, nothing. Although I do have to agree with Weiss. For all the cat and bird jokes, and any pun you can wring out of Weiss’ name, that was worth fifty lien.”

 

“Do you guys really hate my jokes that much?”

 

“Only when you have a new one every five minutes,” the heiress said over her shoulder as she walked further into the fairgrounds. 

 

“So, where to next,  _ Ice Queen _ ?” Ruby teased as she appeared by her friends side.

 

“Right now you’re just wet. Do you want to be cold, too?”

 

“Alright, alright, I got the hint!”

 

Blake silently appeared beside them. “It looks like Tower of Power and Whack-A-Grimm haven’t been fixed yet.”

 

“Sun’s starting to set too, so a lot of this stuff is going to be closing down soon,” Yang muttered as she followed up behind them, fingers laced behind her head. “Ooh! I have an idea! Weiss, on a scale of one to ten, how much did you like the carousel?”

 

“Um… eight?”

 

“That’s really good! There’s another one on the other side that’s an ocean theme and they do something really special when it gets dark. How do you guys feel about going on that one?”

 

“Oh! I know which one you’re talking about! I love that one!” Ruby exclaimed as her wings flared excitedly, bumping into a few other fair goers as they passed.

 

Blake and Weiss shared a bemused look before they turned back to Yang. “Alright. Lead the way.”

 

Not ten minutes later, they were in the horrendously long line for this particular attraction. “I think we might be able to get on the ride before sunset,” Yang said, smiling as the line moved forward. 

 

“Why is that so important, Yang?” Blake pried as she observed the ride warily when they stopped again. Sea turtles, seahorses, octopi, narwhal, and sea lions were among the many things to pass on its slow rotation, and each one was carefully and thoughtfully accented with silver etchings or trim. The circus themed rival carousel was loud and boisterous with much of its color scheme being made up of deep reds, bright yellows, and shiny gold, whereas this one was much softer greens and blues. The ride seemed to take a good chunk out of the line, but it continued to grow behind them. Looking back, Blake noticed that a lot of the same people that were just on it had gone straight to the back for another go.

 

“You’ll see and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised if I don’t tell you,” Yang said as they got to the front of the line. 

 

“We got four seats left,” the attendant at the gate said.

 

“And we have four people,” Yang said happily as she handed over the appropriate amount of lien. The group approached the ride looking for the supposedly empty seats and found them in the back, right in front of an old couple in the giant open clam shell, accented by coral and seaweed. 

 

“I call the octopus!” Ruby said as she clambered onto the head of the creature, the arms creatively arranged to be both steps and handles. Blake wordlessly jumped onto one turtle and sat with her legs folded to one side while she leaned on the other turtle. While her seat was meant to be a parent-young child seat, it could be passed off as more of a lounging seat also.

 

“I don’t think I’d be able to get on the seahorse,” Weiss said mournfully.

 

“Narwhal it is then,” Yang said cheerfully as she helped Weiss onto the blimp of a creature, careful not to accidentally bump into her and drench her with the water still hanging onto her clothes. Even for it being low to the ground, it was still too tall for Weiss to mount by herself. Yang walked over to the seahorse and sat on its tail before resting her head on her hands. “I just realized there are steps concealed on the other side of it, Weiss.”

 

“Are you serious?” she muttered, leaning over to try and get a look. Suddenly, the ride began moving and, thankfully, she had been holding on to the pole.

 

“Don’t hurt yourself, dear,” the elderly woman said with a chuckle. “This is a very difficult ride to get onto at this time.”

 

“And a missed opportunity if they remove you because you hurt yourself,” the equally elderly man said. “We’ve been trying to get on this ride for thirty-seven years for this moment.”

 

“What moment? What’s he talking about?” Weiss pried, trying to get an answer out of any of them.

 

“These two,” Yang said as she gestured to Weiss and Blake respectively, “have never seen this ride before, so I’m trying to keep  _ that _ a surprise. You’re right though, this ride is very difficult to get onto at that perfect moment.”

 

“Weren’t we close that one year?” Ruby chimed in as she spun slightly on the octopus.

 

“Yeah, we only made it to the front of the line, though. It was still pretty cool to see.” 

 

“The first time we got on the ride was the night he proposed, and the first time we found out about what makes this attraction special. Happy accident, that was,” the little old woman said with a chuckle.

 

“Well, we might be in luck,” Yang said as she looked back to her two disgruntled teammates and smiled. “We should have at least one more rotation.”

 

“And then what?” Blake asked, moderately irritated that they were being kept in the dark for so long. A shift in light caused her and Weiss to look around, both not quite understanding what had changed at first.

 

“And then that,” Ruby chirped happily as it finally registered what was going on. The lights had changed in brightness, color, and an effect filter was rotating across the lens to create a refraction effect like being on the bottom of a swimming pool. While each was only a slight adjustment in itself, combined it made the surroundings calming and almost ethereal as the silver would shine or disappear depending on what degree of light hit it and what was affecting it. Blake and Weiss shared a smile with each other and the rest of their team before turning to enjoy what they thought was the end of the ride.

 

“Hey, Yang?” Blake asked after a minute. “I thought you said that we only had one more rotation?”

 

“Typically it’s only four rotations, but this little event overrides whatever cycle is currently happening, unless it’s a loading break, so you get to start the ride all over without leaving your seat,”  the blonde replied without lifting her head from her arm. “The program will then continue as it did before with only four cycles a ride.”

 

“Essentially, you get a certain amount of free rides out of it.”

 

“Yep, if you’re lucky enough to be on it when it happens and in this case, we got the max!” Ruby chirped happily as the ride came around for its final turn.

 

“You’re something else, you know that?” Blake said as the ride slowed to a stop. She gracefully slid off the back of the turtle and landed quietly on the wooden floor as Weiss swung her legs over the back of the narwhal and climbed down the embedded footholds only to find herself standing in front of her faunus teammate. “Where to next, Weiss?” Blake asked as she strode over to the elderly couple and helped them down the platform stairs.

 

“There was another game I couldn’t get Neptune to play,” Weiss said as she ambled behind them. “It was some kind of dance game with giant controller pads you jump on.”

 

“Ooh! DDR! That’s a good one, especially if you can do a team competitive mode,” Ruby gushed as she suddenly appeared, clinging to Weiss’ arm and throwing her off balance. “Although, it can get ridiculously difficult if you don’t have any synergy with your group.”

 

“We’re going to make fools of ourselves at the photobooth later, right? Let’s go see how badly we do and laugh at ourselves on our way to take pictures,” Yang said, grinning from ear to ear as the strode in the general direction of the next game. “Ruby and I have a compact version of the game at home that we used to play all the time. Maybe we won’t do as badly as we think.”

 

About a half hour later, they found themselves on said platforms and struggling to get a reasonable score. Their second game in was much easier as Weiss and Blake became more confident in their footwork, and by their third game they had placed in the top fifty. “I’d say that isn’t too bad considering the general public has access to the console,” Ruby said as she looked at their score. “Are we going to register as our team?” she asked, although she was fairly confident she already knew the answer.

 

“Of course we are! How is it not obvious that we would?” Weiss barked as she tapped the controller pad with her foot. 

 

“I’ve played this game in teams where the leader doesn’t ask and just punches whatever they can fit of their own name in the slots even though it was a group effort. Consider it a courtesy she’s acknowledging that we did this together, Weiss,” Yang said as she scrolled patiently almost to the bottom of the alphabet.

 

“You’re right. I’m… sorry.”

 

“It’s okay, partner. Don’t worry about it.”

 

“It’s nice to know that you default to giving credit where credit is due, though,” Blake chimed in as she stepped off the platform.

 

“Anyone wanna see the top ten before we go?” Yang asked before everyone got too far.

 

“Sure.” They waited in relative silence as the screen scrolled, only bothering to look away to assure the next group that they would not be playing another game and would move on shortly. 

 

“So Juniper’s the top dog. That’s not too surprising,” Yang said as she stepped down from the controller. “I was wondering how they were able to choreograph so many moves so quickly.”

 

“It shouldn’t be surprising at all. They come to town at least once a week,” Weiss interjected as they walked towards the photobooth she and Neptune went to last time.

 

“I guess that’s the team training Jaune is always running off to do. Now I kind of want to crush them,” Ruby said.

 

“While I’m not that dedicated to the cause, I would definitely like for us to be in the top ten,” Yang admitted.

 

Blake chuckled before sharing her own thoughts. “I wouldn’t mind giving them a run for their money.”

 

“Well,” Weiss sighed as they took their place in the fairly short line, “if you girls are serious about this, then I guess we’re all going to be getting a lot less sleep.”

 

“Or we could do a lot less homework,” Yang joked.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Weiss exclaimed as she logged her scroll for their booth. “Ruby is barely passing as-is and you aren’t doing much better.”

 

“I know, Weiss. I’m kidding,” Yang replied boredly as they strode towards their assigned area. “We can try the game more often when we have time. For now though,” Yang said as she, Ruby, and Blake placed their scrolls on the table and began filling out the prompts, “I want to take some stupid pictures.” She smiled at Weiss and gestured to her screen, where Weiss noted that so far the vote for silliness was a straight ten. Sighing, Weiss placed her own scroll on the table and filled out the prompts, hesitating only when she reached the silly preference. After a second of deliberation, where she also noted that her team did not rush or try to influence her choice, she smiled as she also selected ten before finishing the rest of the transaction and stepping back to make more memories.

\---------

“So, this is the place, huh?” Yang asked as the team walked up to the shopping center.

 

“You can read, can’t you?” Weiss snarked, walking through the front door. “Coco recommended this place to me.”

 

“Well,” Blake began, pausing, “if Coco of all people recommended it…”

 

“We’ll just have to see,” Yang said, following Weiss through the door.

 

“Greetings, and welcome to  _ Federkleid _ !” The attending faunus, who was sporting a small pair of antlers exclaimed. “Is there anything I can help… you… with?” His warm smile faded, being replaced by his lips being pressed together as he eyed the group of huntresses warily, looking in some places more than others.

 

“I think he’s looking at you, Weiss,” Ruby muttered.

 

“Oh really? Thank you, Captain Obvious! No one would have noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out,” Weiss replied sardonically.

 

“What’s going on out… Oh, hey, Weiss!” Velvet exclaimed, excited. Nobody saw her come out of anywhere. It was more as if she spontaneously appeared. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here, or any of your team, really.” She turned to the deer faunus. “She’s actually really nice, Pete. Just treat her like any other customer.”

 

“Oh, uh, right,” Pete said. “My apologies. Is there anything I can help you ladies with?”

 

“We’re looking to get outfitted for the school dance that’s in a few weeks,” Blake said. “Your business came highly recommended from one of our more fashionable classmates.”

 

“Oh, well, in that case, uh, please, wait over by the changing rooms, and an assistant will be with you shortly.”

 

“You work here, Velvet?” Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Part-time,” Velvet replied. “I’m trying to get more hours in before my team’s mission. My mom’s birthday is coming up too, and I want to have money to get her something nice, but also small enough to mail.”

 

“Oh, congratulations!” She paused, before slapping her open palm into her face out of embarrassment, much to Blake’s amusement. “Sorry… Anyway, where did you get the part about me being a nice person?” Weiss asked.

 

“Oh, Ruby and Yang talk about weird things you and Blake do all the time. Like how you always yell at Ruby to pay more attention to the material you’re studying, but you still look over her papers before they’re due and fact check her.”

 

“Oh, really?” Blake interjected. “Well, Weiss and I have some stories on these two, also.” The sisters gave a nervous laugh.

 

“So, anyway, let’s get you guys measured out, then we can figure out the style of dress each of you wants.” Quickly and with care, Velvet retrieved each of the girls’ measurements, allowing them to browse the innumerable styles of dresses available, Weiss being the last to be measured. “Weiss, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to need you to remove your jacket. It will help ensure an accurate measurement.”

 

“Alright,” Weiss sighed, peeling off her bolero and setting it to the side.  _ At least I don’t have to worry about my wings for now. _ “So, when are you guys leaving for your mission?”

 

“We leave in exactly one week,” Velvet replied.

 

“That’s… only a couple weeks before the dance,” Weiss realized. “Are you sure you’re going to make it back in time?”

 

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t. Professor Port always enjoys a little conflict and caused a few of our missions to end sooner than expected in our first year, so if anything, we should be back early. Is your jacket possibly filled with down or something? It looks like it’s in good condition but...” Velvet paused. She plucked something off Weiss’ back, resulting in a stinging feeling. “...so much lint.”

 

_ Feathers. Great… _ “I’ll see to it it gets cleaned as soon as possible.”

 

Velvet took her measurements, then immediately handed back her bolero, which Weiss donned. The rabbit appeared quite concerned, her ears drooping slightly. “Weiss, is everything okay? Your back…”

 

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Velvet,” Weiss assured. “It’s just old battle scars.”

 

“...Do they hurt?”

 

“They did, now I just try to keep them out of sight. They’re… not attractive.”

 

“So, did Neptune get a look at them?”

 

“Yang!” Blake exclaimed, turning beet red.

 

“You’re disgusting,” Weiss groaned. “Velvet, thank you. Blake, do you know where Ruby wandered off to?”

 

“She said she was going to check out the reds. You… might want to help her out.”

 

“Don’t you tell me she’s taking bits and pieces off of each article and slapping them together like some sort of weird collage.” Weiss waited briefly for an answer, but never got one. “Fine! I’ll go see what she’s gotten herself into…” Briskly walking through the innumerable aisles of clothes, she eventually found herself in the reds, wondering exactly just how hard it was going to be to find the one bird her team knew of. “Ruby?” Weiss called.

 

“Over here!” the leader exclaimed. Weiss made her way over to find Ruby carrying a mountain of clothing. “Hey, Weiss. Would you mind helping me find something that looks good?”

 

“It would be easier if you didn’t grab your body weight in clothes, you dunce,” Weiss chided, pinching the skin between her eyes. “But yes, I suppose I could help you find something you’d look good in.”

\------------

Exiting the dorm complex, she took one last look at her scroll. Neptune had agreed to meet her outside the dorm building assigned to Haven students. She felt giddy, a bright smile plastered on her face as she prepared to meet him. No sooner had she rounded the corner of the building than she saw Neptune standing in front of his, prompting her to hide and let out an unflattering gasp. After a second, she collected her nerves and mentally slapped herself for forgetting how much better her vision was than his own.

 

_ You’ve still got a hundred yards, Weiss _ , she thought, her confidence slowly being ebbed away by nervousness with each step. Before she knew it, she was close enough she could have thrown a rock and hit him. She took a deep breath to steady herself and stepped forward.

 

“Neptune!” Weiss exclaimed, approaching her crush.

 

“What’s up, Snow Angel?” he asked.

 

“Well, um,” she began, becoming fidgety as her nervousness shot through the roof, “I was wondering… if you would like to accompany me to the dance?”

 

“Well, um” he paused, scratching the back of his head, “I’d love to, but… I was planning on going alone. Sorry. It’s not you, I’m just embarrassed.”

 

“I… see,” Weiss said, doing her utmost to hide her disappointment.  _ Don’t be  _ **_that_ ** _ girl, Weiss. _ “Well, in that case, I…”  _ Understand? _ “I hope you enjoy the party tomorrow. Goodnight, Neptune.”

 

“Same to you,” Neptune said. “Goodnight, Weiss.”

 

Weiss walked away and rounded the corner, waiting for the dorm complex door to close behind Neptune before she could allow herself to sit and wallow in her own tears, multiple questions running through her mind all at once, all asking what the actual cause could be of why Neptune wanted to go alone, rather than with her.

 

After a few moments with herself, she placed her hand on the ground to push herself up, and felt something unusual. Picking up the object, it was a rose. Either someone was rejected just as she had been, or they were wanting to approach Neptune and saw her about to ask him. If only they had just waited. Then again, they probably left after hearing he wanted to go alone.

\------------

_ The pain, _ Weiss thought as she sliced through one of her diminutive wings with a grunt, the tiny appendage dropping to the floor,  _ is worth it _ . She readied her blade to cut off the second one. “If this is the price I have to pay to be normal,” she paused, grunting once more as Myrtenaster dismembered her other wing, “then I’ll pay it gladly.” She stared at the rotating cylinder of her weapon as an intrusive thought crossed her mind, and quickly shook her head to dispel it before she placed the blade outside the shower stall. She summoned her aura, and when it settled, she felt her back where the wounds still stung, finding her hand covered in blood. “Good thing I brought gauze…”

\----------

The team crammed into the bathroom in pairs, first fixing their own makeup, then taking turns helping Ruby with hers. The poor girl was even more of a tomboy than her sister, and didn’t even know the basics of makeup application. Yang was chastised at least once for what looked like her trying to make Ruby look like a clown. Or a drag queen. They then brushed up on finer details the others might have missed, the others becoming confused as to how Weiss found pieces of lint Blake failed to notice, the cat coming to the conclusion of Weiss’ vision being slightly better than her own. The heiress looked over her team. They were all beautiful. Ruby, despite hardly being able to stand in heels, wore a red dress with a plunging neckline and black sash around her waist, the dress’ bell resembling her combat skirt. Yang chose to don a fairly simple, white halter neck dress and pumps, while Blake ditched her typical black bow in favor of a teal one, wearing a purple halter dress that hugged her legs and had a split running almost up to her hip on one side.

 

“We ready to go?” Yang asked.

 

“Yeah, just a sec,” Ruby said, taking off her heels. “Much better…”

 

“I’ll be with you momentarily, I… need to finalize some things with my appearance,” Weiss said.

 

“And I agreed to meet Sun by the fountain,” Blake said, “so I won’t be joining you until the party actually starts.”

 

“Suit yourselves,” Yang said as she and Ruby left the dorm. Weiss went to the bathroom and pretended to look over her makeup and dress, analyzing the v-neck design of the collar and the holes cut into the fabric, exposing her sides.

 

_ Why did I even bother? _ Weiss thought, gaze falling to the sink bowl in front of her. She heard Blake give an exasperated sigh.

 

“We both know that’s not why you’re still here,” the cat said matter-of-factly, leaning against the door frame.

 

Weiss huffed and turned to face her. “What are you talking about, Blake?”

 

Blake sighed and rested her head on the door frame. “You’re taking this way too hard, Weiss. What’s the matter?”

 

“Normally, guys just line up to meet me, whether it’s for my money or my name, or what have you, but Neptune… he seemed different. I thought he was someone I could actually pursue a relationship with, and it seemed to be working for the last month.”

 

“Other than the fair date, all you two did was flirt with each other,” Blake noted.

 

“As if I wasn’t already used to that back home?”

 

“Weiss, you’re the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. He had every right to turn you down, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Some men, they just don’t feel right about dating a woman from a higher social class. In some cases, it makes them feel inferior, and in others, they feel dirty; and if I were to guess what the case is with Neptune, he… he might just feel inferior.”  _ I’m really stretching by giving him the benefit of the doubt… _

 

“He might feel… inferior?”

 

“I mean he might feel like he’s being looked at like he’s a gold digger. Think about it from an investment standpoint, you’re worth more money than the rest of your team is likely to see in our combined lifetimes!”

 

“That’s depressingly realistic,” Weiss said, diverting her gaze to the side.

 

“Regardless, that’s no reason for you to not have fun tonight. I’m sure someone will ask you for a dance,” Blake said, extending her hand. “Besides, you have three more years to find a date.”

 

“How’s the relationship between you and Sun?” Weiss asked, her tone becoming more bitter than she expected. Blake seemed taken aback.

 

“He means well, but his actions often cause more problems than they fix. Overall, I’d say we’re doing pretty well. Come on, we can’t keep the others waiting, and I’m sure you’re not the only one who got rejected,” Blake said, giving a subtle nod to JNPR’s dorm.

 

“Alright,” Weiss huffed, taking Blake’s hand, the taller girl leading her out of the dorm.

 

Pyrrha poked her head out of JNPR’s dorm as they passed. “I had a question for Team RWBY…. Are you two going to the dance together?” she asked, spying the pair’s locked fingers.

 

Blake glanced down as Weiss blushed and ripped her hand out of Blake’s before looking away. “Oh, no. Weiss has been nitpicking everything and this was the most effective way to get her to stop. What was your question, Pyrrha?”

 

“Who are you all taking as dates?”

 

“Technically I’m going with Sun, Ruby isn’t dancing as far as I know, and Yang is just going because it’s a party. She did ask for my first dance though…”

 

“....and Weiss?” Pyrrha pried gently as Weiss shrank a little.

 

Meeting Pyrrha’s eyes, Blake tried to breach the subject as gently as possible. “Well--”

 

“I was rejected and haven’t found another date yet. Maybe I’ll meet someone there.”

 

“Okay,” Pyrrha replied as she watched Weiss walk away. “She’s really upset, isn’t she?”

 

“Yeah, but I already talked to her. I hope she still finds a way to have fun tonight.”

\-----------

Weiss watched as the attendees filed in, some being teachers, who wore their usual garb rather than fine clothes like the students. Then again, they were probably just there to make sure nothing got out of hand. She tried to waste time adjusting ornaments and flowers when she wasn’t helping one of her teammates work the podium and greet people, hoping for the night to just end already. She saw more than a few guys, and even some women approach Yang, and she even danced with some of them, but not before dancing with Blake. Some even approached Ruby, though once they saw she was barely capable of even standing in heels, appeared to switch over to normal conversation that ended quickly. The only reason nobody approached Blake was probably because she was out on the floor at least twice with Sun, and had generally been lingering around him a lot, yet not one person asked her to dance. Somehow, she was unpleasantly surprised when she saw Jaune chatting up Ruby at the punch table. She cringed and pinched the skin between her eyes.  _ Really, Weiss? Just how desperate are you? _

 

Weiss’ scroll pinged. Digging it out of her pocket, she opened it and read a message from Blake. ‘ _ If Sun asked you to dance with him, would you tell him no?’ _

 

_ ‘Absolutely. _ ’ she replied before shutting her scroll with a snap. It wasn’t that she hated him, she still just had trouble liking him…. Okay, maybe they were the same thing, but she was actively looking for things to like about him. He made the usually moody Blake smile and laugh a lot, so that was a start. She looked up to find Jaune gone and Ruby with one of the cups to her mouth. 

 

_ Ruby did you seriously just do what I think you just did!? _ she thought, recoiling internally as she watched Jaune stalk off somewhere. He stopped dead and turned his attention toward a seemingly dateless Pyrrha slowly making her way up the stairs toward the balcony before he decided to follow her. Neptune followed them shortly after. Pyrrha walked back down the stairs after a few minutes, still looking dejected despite the alone time. Jaune came back down after another few moments and… left the party? She looked back at her scroll. It was midnight.  _ Just three more hours. Three more miserable hours until I can take this thing off and go to bed… _ The time dragged by, and before long, she found herself playing with the flowers in a vase, idly watching as the heads bobbed back up after pressing them down with her finger. Growing bored with that, she took a seat in a chair against the wall.

 

“Hey,” someone said. Weiss turned to find Neptune standing before her. “Are any of these seats available?”

 

“Oh, um, yes!” Weiss stammered, not expecting him to pay her any mind. He took the nearest one to her.

 

“I…” The sound of laughter interrupted him, and they looked up to find Jaune approaching Pyrrha… while wearing a dress. Weiss clamped her hands over her mouth to try and stifle her laughter at the image, and was surprised when the warrior practically jumped into his arms.

 

She collected herself before asking, “What made you come over and talk to me?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You said you were embarrassed.”

 

“You’re looking at him,” he said, gesturing to Jaune. “You have some good friends looking out for you. I can’t dance, but would you like to go elsewhere?”

\-----------

“So, Rubes, Blake… Sun, how are you enjoying the party?” Yang asked as the group watched over the dance from their perch on the interior balcony.

 

“It’d be better if I could wear something that’s not these stupid ladies stilts!”

 

“I’ll wear the stilts if you wear this stupid neck trap!” Sun said as he tried to rip the tie off.

 

“How about we switch right now?” Ruby asked, eager to be rid of the offensive footwear.

 

“Hey! No stripping! Everybody keep their clothes on!” Yang ordered.

 

“It’s certainly impressive,” Blake said. “I’d say we’ve outdone ourselves.”

 

“Yeah, and,” Yang paused, turning her attention to the dance floor, where laughter was erupting only to find Jaune dancing with Pyrrha in a dress painfully similar to Weiss’ combat outfit. “Oh, my, god…”

 

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen!” Ruby exclaimed, quickly becoming bent over from laughing too hard.

 

“Not as ridiculous as that!” Yang exclaimed, pointing to Neptune and Weiss leaving the ballroom together. Yang looked at Blake and gave her a sly smile, wiggling her eyebrows. Blake rolled her eyes.

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna make sure nothing Rated R happens between those two,” Sun said, hurrying toward where Weiss and Neptune were last seen heading.

 

“I think he just wants to watch,” Yang murmured.

\----------

“Okay... now, just put one hand on my back and… that’s not my back,” Weiss said, raising Neptune’s hand up to her lower back.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“Now, put your hand in mine, and follow my motions. Watch my feet if you have to.”

 

“As tempting as that is, I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Neptune said, blushing as he looked away.

 

“Well, anyway, let’s just give it a shot, see what happens.” After only a few steps, Neptune was tripping all over her, and himself. “Leading would be so much easier if I weren’t so short…”

 

“Weiss, I’m not sure dancing with me is the best idea…”

 

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Weiss assured. “Trust me. Were you any good at fighting when you first started training? If you’re like the rest of us, then no, you weren’t. Just give it a bit of time, and see how it develops.”

 

“Alright,” Neptune sighed, trying again. He made it about half a step more before he almost fell right on top of her, his arms the only thing keeping him from crushing her against the railing. He straightened himself and helped her stand up straight.

 

“So, now that you know, would you like a dance with someone who won’t step on your feet?” Someone asked. Both turned to find Sun leaning against the doorway.

 

“That’s a nice offer, Sun, but no,” Weiss said.

 

“Suit yourself!” Sun exclaimed, grabbing Neptune and taking him for a few rounds of dancing, much to Weiss’ chagrin and amusement.

\-----------

“So, Weiss,” Yang began as the heiress entered the dorm, dressed in her pajamas like Yang and Blake before her, having once again taken a late shower in the public washrooms, “we saw you disappear with Neptune. Have some fun?”

 

“Yeah, it was fun,” she said, smiling, then frowning, “though he wasn’t particularly good…”

 

“Ah, it’s okay!” Yang exclaimed, waving her off as Ruby exited the dorm bathroom, head and wings wrapped in towels. “I hear first-timers aren’t particularly great!”

 

“You don’t know the half of it- Yang!” Weiss shouted, her face becoming quite red as she caught on to what the blonde was getting at. She grabbed her pillow and threw it at the blonde, only for her to catch it and throw it back, clobbering the heiress in the face.

 

“That was a rather unnecessary string of comments,” Blake said, turning away from her book. “Are you alright, Weiss? Your face is a bit flushed.”

 

“I’m fine,” Weiss huffed as she threw her pillow back onto her bed. She took a seat on the mattress as she continued to scowl at the blonde. Her face lifted when she noticed the book Blake was currently reading. “What’s that book about, Blake? It doesn’t look like any of your others.”

 

“Interesting that you’re intrigued by my choice of literature for once,” Blake hummed. 

 

“We all know that at least half of them are some kind of raunchy romance novel, Blake,” Ruby chirped from under her towel. “Stop pretending we haven’t already raided your bookshelf and your library history.”

 

Blake pressed the inside of the book’s spine against her nose, hiding much of her face. “I can’t believe you two...”

 

“What did we do?” Yang asked, offended. “It was Ruby’s idea!”

 

“You wouldn’t tell her what book you were reading one day, so she asked the library for your checkout history and, like a responsible leader, did her own research. You could have saved yourself some embarrassment if you’d just been honest with her,” Weiss said smugly.

 

“And if that list wasn’t three pages long. We gathered all of the books in stacks on a table just to have it all in one place and the librarian made us put them all back after we got a picture,” Yang added. “Seriously, where the hell do you find the time to do all of that reading?”

 

“Probably the same classes you do all of your sleeping and goofing off with Juniper,” Ruby sighed.

 

“Alright, enough already!” Blake exclaimed, huffing. “It’s about a princess prophesied to be the poison that would destroy the world if she were to reach her sixteenth birthday. She was one of a pair of twins. In an effort to save the world, she was dropped off a cliff as an infant, only to later be saved by a court wizard and adopted by a commoner family. Her foster siblings, a swordsman and a wizard, become her protectors. Turns out, not everything is as it is made to appear.”

 

“Sounds interesting,” Weiss said, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll have to read it sometime.”

 

“Well, I think that’s enough fun for one night,” Yang said, stretching before flopping onto her mattress. “Good night, team.”

 

“Good night, everyone,” Blake said, closing her book and setting it on the nightstand.

 

“Let’s get some good sleep so we can kick some Grimm butt on our mission tomorrow!” Ruby said as she strained to climb into her bunk. One of her flapping wings smacked into the light and caused it to flicker, but thankfully, it remained on. Weiss poked the pad of Ruby’s foot, causing her to laugh and pull away. Wordlessly, she cast a glyph under her partner that was high enough for her to clamber into her bed without further casualties to the light fixture. “Thank you, Weiss.”

 

“That,” Weiss paused as she stretched mid-sentence, Blake’s gaze snapping to her as various joints popped, “that sounds like a good idea.” She got up and switched off the light before returning to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone care to take a guess at what Blake's reading? Fun fact: The best human vision on record is 20/8, but Weiss' is even better than that. ~No_Count


	11. Mountain Glenn Pt. I

“For the last time, Ruby, I don’t want to learn to play this stupid game!” Weiss exclaimed as she went back to packing and organizing her Dust and supplies.

 

“But, Weiss,” Ruby whined, disheartened her friend would go off on her so suddenly. “Just because you’re not good at it yet doesn’t mean you won’t get better with time…”

 

“Ruby, I don’t want to play. End of story,” Weiss said sternly, glaring at her partner.

 

Ruby sighed, her gaze dropping to the floor. “Okay…”

 

“Don’t worry, Ruby. I know something that will cheer you up,” Yang said, walking toward the table near the foot of Weiss’ bed.

 

“What’s that?” Ruby asked, turning to face her sister

 

“Don’t know yet,” Yang began, grabbing a cardboard cylinder off the aforementioned table. “Dad sent it to us, I thought we could open it together.”

 

“Ooh, something from home!” Ruby exclaimed, suddenly appearing on her sister’s back and desperately trying to reach for the cylinder, which slowly dropped a fuzzy package onto the floor. It lurched and the team gathered around it, curious, until it grew legs, a tail, and a head with a long snout and sharp teeth. It barked twice, making the entire team scream, Weiss holding her arms in front of her face and shielding herself with one leg.

 

“Zwei!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

“He sent a dog!?” Blake asked, baffled.

 

“In the mail!?” Weiss questioned, equally baffled.

 

“Oh, he does stuff like this all the time,” Yang said as the dog licked Ruby’s face.

 

“I missed you!” the leader exclaimed, evidently overjoyed to be with the canine.

 

“Your father or your dog?” Blake asked from atop Ruby’s bunk.

 

“Are you telling me that this mangy, drooling,” she paused briefly as a totally different emotion began overcoming her, “mutt, is going to wive wif us fo-eva?” She brought her face closer to the dog’s muzzle. “Oh, yes he is, yes he is! Oh, isn’t he adorable?” she gushed, stroking Zwei’s head.

 

“Please, keep him away from my belongings,” Blake said from Ruby’s headboard, the farthest- and highest, part of Ruby’s bunk.

 

“Would all first-year students please report to the amphitheatre,” Glynda announced over the PA system.

 

“Well, we can’t exactly leave him here while we’re gone for a week,” Weiss noted.

 

“Look, there’s a letter,” Yang said, removing a slip of paper from the canister. “ _ Dear girls, I’ve got to leave the island for a few days, so I’m sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang. _ ” Yang turned the canister on-end, and dozens of cans removed themselves from the small tube, right onto the small dog. Evidently, this Taiyang fellow knew how to be efficient with space... or was some kind of mad wizard.

 

“What is he supposed to do with that?” Weiss asked as Yang gave the container a brief shake, a can opener dropping out of the tube and beaning the canine on the head.

 

“Well, that settles it! Come on, girls, Zwei will be here when we get back!” Yang exclaimed, discarding the package and walking out the dorm.

 

“Oh, I’ll miss you so much, we’re going to be best friends. I can’t wait to see you again…” Weiss said, petting the dog as she walked out the door, dissolving into unintelligible babbling before meeting Yang and Blake in the hall.

 

“So, you two like the dog?” Yang asked as they made their way down the hall. Blake gave an angry groan.

 

“I love him!” Weiss exclaimed, falling into a mild coughing fit..

 

“Yeesh, Weiss, you sure you’re okay?” Yang asked.

 

“I’m fine,” Weiss choked. “Just had a bad itch in my throat.”

 

“You’re not allergic to Zwei are you?”

 

“Of course not!” Weiss dismissed.

 

“I might be,” Blake said.

 

“No, Blake, a fear of dogs does not mean you’re allergic,” Weiss corrected as she led the team to the amphitheatre.

 

“I’m not  _ afraid  _ of him... I just intensely dislike him.”

\--------

“Quiet, quiet please,” Glynda said. “Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin.” She handed off the microphone to the headmaster and strutted to the side of the stage.

 

“Today, we stand together united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with who, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself; color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it is a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united... But this bond cannot exist without effort, which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first-year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best.” Ozpin closed his speech and walked off the stage to a standing ovation, not that there were any chairs. The team headed over to one of the boards and looked over the log.

 

“How about search-and-destroy?” Weiss suggested, earning a nod from everyone else.

 

“Ooh, Quadrant 5!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

“Wait… that’s Mountain Glenn,” Blake said. “That area’s completely infested with Grimm.”

 

“Well, more for us!” Ruby said, entering the team name into the log, only to be denied.

 

“Wonderful,” Weiss sighed.

 

“Any other ideas?” Blake inquired.

 

“We mail ourselves there!” Ruby exclaimed, painting a panorama with her hands.

 

“Well, that’s one option,” Ozpin said, appearing from behind the holographic curtain. “Unfortunately, we determined the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students, and I suspect the four of you will find your way there, no matter which job you choose.”

 

“Whatever makes you say that?” Ruby asked.

 

“Hmph. I’m curious as to how all of you wound up at the docks last semester, and then there’s the ordeal where three of you, along with two other teams and a visiting student crashed a White Fang meeting. Instead of breaking the rules, how about we just bend them?” Ozpin suggested, overriding the system.

 

“We won’t let you down,” Ruby said as the whole rest of her team smiled in gratitude. “Thank you, Professor.”

 

“Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand; the things that await you beyond the protection of the kingdom will not care. Stay close to your huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory,” Ozpin said as he turned and began walking away. They all looked at each other nervously. “Good luck.”

\--------------

“Well, that wasn’t exactly uplifting,” Yang said as they walked toward their bullhead.

 

“But it’s the truth,” Blake said.

 

“It’s gonna be tough, but I know we can do it!” Ruby chirped.

 

“Hey!” someone exclaimed, running past them. “Team Coffee’s back!” The team ran up to greet their friends.

 

“Velvet, are you okay?” Blake asked, being the first to approach someone for once.

 

“I’m fine. I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me,” Velvet replied as the titan swordwielder walked by.

 

“Your mission was supposed to end a week ago!” Weiss exclaimed. “What happened?”

 

“Nothing happened. It was just... there were just so many,” Velvet replied. “Oh, but don’t worry; you first-years are just shadowing huntsmen, so you should be fine.”

 

“Right,” Yang said.

 

“I should go. Be safe, okay?” Velvet said, hurrying off to regroup with her team.

 

“We can do this,” Ruby said. “We’ve never backed down before, and we’re not going to start now.”

 

“Right,” Blake concurred.

 

“Besides, it won’t only be us out there! We’ll be fighting alongside a genuine huntsman!” Ruby exclaimed.

 

“Yeah!” Yang said, leading the group toward their assigned bullhead, their faces warping into a mixture of surprise and disgust upon seeing who they’d be shadowing.

 

“Why, hello, girls!” Dr. Oobleck exclaimed. “Who’s ready to fight for their lives!?”

 

“Professor… Oobleck?” Weiss questioned.

 

“Yes, I’m afraid those bags won’t be necessary, girls,” Oobleck began, “seeing as you’ve opted to shadow a huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you, we will not be establishing a single base-of-operations, rather we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I packed all of our essentials myself, plotted the aircourse, and readied the airship, and,” he leaned in uncomfortably close to Weiss’ face, “it’s  _ Doctor _ Oobleck. I didn’t earn the PhD for fun, thank you very much!”

 

“Uhh…”

 

“Come now, children! According to my schedule, we are now 3 minutes behind… schedule!” Oobleck exclaimed before rocketing off toward the bullhead.

 

“Well, alright then! Looks like we’re going to be slaughtering Grimm alongside Doctor Oo...bleck, yeah, when you say it out loud, it sounds worse…”

 

“Slaughtering Grimm?” a familiar voice accused. The team turned around to find Team JNPR approaching them. “You’re going on Grimm-slaughtering missions without us? I’m hurt! Sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one’s not your fault, though…  _ Ren _ !” Ren merely folded his arms and looked away.

 

“Sounds exciting!” Jaune exclaimed. “Where you goin’?”

 

“Oh, just outside the kingdom,” Ruby replied.

 

“Oh! So are we!” Nora exclaimed.

 

“Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village,” Pyrrha said.

 

“We set out tomorrow,” Ren added.

 

“Then you can party with us tonight!” Neptune said, butting into the conversation with Sun. “We’re shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges.”

 

“We normally go to the city with you guys, which means stuff’s usually exploding and junk,” Sun added. “So, we thought this would be a better way to check out the kingdom when it’s, you know, normal.”

 

“Well-”

 

“Four minutes, ladies!” Oobleck shouted from the platform.

 

“Well, uh, wish us luck!” Ruby said before bidding farewell.

\--------------

“I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter!” Yang shouted over the roar of the wind, and the bullhead’s engines.

 

“I admit, I fancy myself as more of an… intellectual, but I can assure you, as a huntsman, I’ve had my fair share of tussels!” Oobleck replied.

 

“Like the mushroom?” Ruby asked.

 

“Those are truffles,” Blake replied.

 

“Like the sprout?” she asked.

 

“Those are brussels,” Yang corrected.

 

“Besides, given my expertise in the field of history, as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular… assignment.”

 

“What does history have to do with this?” Weiss inquired.

 

“Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl!” Oobleck exclaimed. “Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager…”

 

“And that means…?”

 

“The southwest quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves,  _ but _ , it is also home to one of the kingdom’s greatest failures.”

 

“Mountain Glenn,” Ruby said.

 

“That’s right,” Yang began, “it was an expansion of Vale… but in the end, it was over-run by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city…”

 

“Correct! And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder.” 

 

No sooner had that conversation wrapped up than the bullhead pulled into a hover only ten feet off the ground, the machine flying back to the safety of Vale as soon as the last passenger, Ruby, landed on the asphalt. They took in their new surroundings. Decaying buildings, long-abandoned, stood as a grim reminder of the past, and a warning for the future. Her eyes darted around, until they fell on a distant building with an M in the shape of a molecule on the central spire. Even though she knew she had never seen that symbol before, it made a chill run up her spine.

 

_ Home _ . Weiss kicked the intrusive word out of her head. She knew where home was, and this was the farthest thing from it.

 

“Ladies,” Oobleck began, interrupting her thoughts, “you still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as huntresses has begun. From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?” They all nodded in unison. “Ruby!” The young leader jumped and held up her hands defensively. “I thought I told you to leave all your bags back at school?”

 

“But, uh, you hadn’t told us to listen to you yet. So, I didn’t,” Ruby replied, the others shaking their heads in disbelief.

 

“She’s not wrong,” Oobleck muttered. “Very well, Ruby, leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return.”

 

“But, I- well-”

 

“Young lady! What in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with-,” Oobleck stopped himself as Zwei poked his head out of the bag and looked at him.

 

“Get back in the bag,” Ruby muttered.

 

“We’re here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought… a dog?” Oobleck accused sternly.

 

_ You couldn’t leave him with Team CFVY or something, Ruby? _ Weiss thought, believing she was about to watch her team leader get sent back to Beacon for bringing her pet.

 

“I, uh-”

 

“Genius!” Oobleck shouted, turning away, before swooping by the group and picking up the corgi from Ruby’s bag, knocking her over. “Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for hunts such as ours!”

 

Zwei barked in agreement.

 

“I’m a genius!” Ruby exclaimed, prompting both Weiss and Yang to bury their faces in their hands.

 

_ I feel… warm... _

 

“So,” Blake began, “what are your orders, Doctor?”

 

“Ah! Yes! Straight to the chase! I like it!” he exclaimed, dropping the dog. “As you have been informed, the southeast area has become a recent hotspot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being, Grimm.”

 

_ Yeah, we kind of figured that out fifty miles ago… _

 

“Uh, what?”

 

“Grimm,” Oobleck said. “A Creature of Grimm, approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment.”

 

“What!?” Yang exclaimed as they all whipped around to face the threat, a beowolf, readying their weapons.

 

“Stop,” Oobleck ordered. “There are a number of reasons Grimm would congregate in this particular area. The most likely of which, would be their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities carried by anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves out here.”

 

“So… what now?” Ruby asked.

 

“We wait,” Oobleck replied. “We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, we can take out a swathe of Grimm in one motion.”

 

“How long do we wait?” Yang asked, evidently bored, judging by her voice.

 

“It’s uncertain. Hours… Days… Weeks… Why lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months- and there’s the whole pack.”

 

“What?” Weiss questioned.

 

“And now they’ve seen us.”

 

“What!?”

 

“AND NOW THEY’VE SEEN US!” Oobleck shouted, startling her, and summarily causing a headache.

 

“I take it tracking is out of the question…?” Ruby asked nervously.

 

“An accurate assumption, yes.”

 

“What’s the plan, then!?” Yang exclaimed, the beowolves charging them.

 

“Show me what you’re capable of,” Oobleck ordered. 

 

The team split off, Weiss losing track of her teammates as she kited a large group of beowolves, lunging through one and over another, killing them both with a few strikes from Myrtenaster. Propelling herself forward with her aura, she engaged another group of the Grimm, performing a series of strikes and killing them all in under a second. Looking up from her kneeling position, her team and Dr. Oobleck were all nearby.

 

“Piece of cake,” Ruby said, shrugging.

 

“Do not celebrate yet, for I am certain this is the first bout of many,” Oobleck advised. “Shall we continue?” 

 

The hours dragged by, Weiss and her team slaughtering beowolves by the dozens, while Oobleck busied himself poking at plants and rubble, the team becoming increasingly exhausted with each encounter. 

 

“Excellent work, girls! Now that that pack has been taken care of, moving on!”

 

“Hey, Doc,” Yang began, “you know, I was actually looking forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action. Like, fighting, or at least helping us fight!?”

 

“Ah, but I am in action! Scouring the ruins of this once-great city for any signs of irregularity! Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, girls. Sometimes, it’s just a heightened form of extermination. Remember! This is a job, and you all signed up for it. I  _ do _ hope you understand that.”

 

“Well, yeah… O-of course!” Yang exclaimed.

 

“So,” Weiss began, turning to Ruby, “do you regret this yet?”

 

“Nope,” Ruby said through slightly-ragged breaths. “You’re looking a bit more red than usual, Weiss. Everything okay?”

 

“I’m fine,” Weiss said, dismissing her. “Probably just because I haven’t had to fight this hard in a while.”

…...

“And you, Miss Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn’t need the extra work. So, why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?”

 

“It’s exactly as you’ve said,” Weiss replied, approaching him as he sat writing in his log book on a second-floor window sill. “I’m a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life.”  _ I suppose it’s also helping me overcome the belittlement I suffered at the hands of my father… _ “It was my duty.”

 

“Interesting,” Oobleck said, hopping down from his position.

…..

She looked over to find Zwei barking as Ruby held out a cooked bird on her scythe’s spike, teasing the dog with it. As soon as she spotted Oobleck, she sheathed her weapon.

 

“Sorry! Uhh… Are we ready to keep going?”

 

“No! I believe that will have to do for today! It’s going to be dark soon,” Oobleck replied, turning his attention to one of the half-destroyed structures and tossing a hefty roll to Yang, causing her to grunt. “You three, set up camp in that building. Oh, and do make sure there are no more of those… creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, Ruby!”

…...

Weiss stood by the fire as Yang and Blake made idle chatter, though the conversation died quickly. Still, there was something bugging her.

 

“That’s not what I meant,” she said abruptly.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Earlier,” Weiss said. “About ‘upholding the legacy’. There’s more to it than that.”  _ A lot more… _

 

“Yeah,” Yang said. “No, me too. I mean… I don’t know.”

 

“I don’t know, either,” Blake said. “I know what I  _ want _ to do, but… I figured I’d always take things one step at a time…”

 

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Yang said. “We know why we’re here. Right?”

 

“Ah, wonderful!” Oobleck said, suddenly appearing. “A textbook campfire.”

 

“Ooh, a fire!” Ruby exclaimed joyously, approaching it. “So… warm…”

 

“Very good! Eat your dinners and hurry to bed! We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow, and we’ll need you keeping watch over our temporary abode,” Oobleck said, making binoculars with his hands. “Any volunteers for first watch?”

 

“Yo,” Ruby said, raising her hand. She wasn’t by the fire very long before she started heading to her post.

 

“Hey,” Yang began as Ruby walked behind her, “did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a huntress? I mean, what did you tell him?”

 

“Hm… No, he didn’t,” Ruby replied. “Weird. Oh, well. Good night, guys!”

 

Weiss, Yang, and Blake ate their small dinners and laid down on their bed rolls. Even in the silence, the heiress could tell she wasn’t the only one thinking about something.

 

“Don’t worry,” she heard Ruby tell Zwei, “things will be better tomorrow.”

 

_ I hope so, _ she thought, clenching her uneasy stomach.  _ Gods, I hope so… _

…...

“Blake? Are you awake?” Yang asked.

 

“Yeah,” Blake answered, a bit more hushed.

 

“Why do you think he asked us about being a huntress?” The blonde wondered. “Like… what was he trying to say?”

 

“Maybe he was just curious…”

 

“You think?” Yang asked, very loudly rolling over.

 

“No.”

 

“Weiss? Are you awake?”

 

“Of course I’m awake, you two are talking!” she snapped.  _ Just when I had fallen asleep, too… _ “And I think he- When I said I wanted to honor my family’s name, I meant it, but… it’s not what you think. I’m  _ not _ stupid! I’m fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a… moral grey area.”

 

“That’s putting it lightly,” Blake said.

 

“Which is  _ why _ I feel the need to make things right! If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn’t have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it!”

 

“All my life, I fought for what I thought was right,” Blake said. “I had a partner named Adam; more of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But, of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be… not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew huntsmen and huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world… Always fighting for good… but I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy, what can i- how can I undo so many years of hate?”

 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Yang answered. “You’re not one to back down from a challenge, Blake.”

 

“But I am! I do it all the time… When you learned I was a faunus, I didn’t know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away…”

 

“At least you two have something that drives you,” Yang said solemnly. “I’ve just kind of always… gone with the flow, you know? And that’s fine… I mean, that’s who I am. But how long could I really do that for? I wanna be a huntress… not really because I wanna be a hero, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won’t know what tomorrow will bring, and that ‘ll be a good thing. Being a huntress just happens to line up with that. I’m not like Ruby. She’s always wanted to be a huntress. It’s like she said, ever since she was a kid, she dreamt about being the heroes in the books; helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn’t fight, she  _ knew _ that’s what she wanted to do. That’s why she trained  _ so hard _ to get where she is, today.”

 

“Well,” Weiss began, pausing, “she’s still just a kid.”

 

“She’s only two years younger; we’re all kids,” Blake said.

 

“Well, not anymore,” Yang said. “I mean, look where we are! In the middle of a war zone and armed to the teeth?”

 

“It’s the life we chose,’ Blake replied.

 

“It’s a job,” Weiss said, holding up her hand. “We all had this romanticized vision of being a huntress in our heads.. But at the end of the day, it’s a  _ job _ to protect the people. And whatever we want will have to come second.”

\---------

“Alright, time to wake up, everyone,” Weiss said, shaking awake a slumbering Yang while Blake and Ruby slowly crawled off their mats. As soon as the blonde made it known she was awake, Weiss tried to stand upright, only to feel her head become light and the world around her to twist and bend.  _ I didn’t even get up that fast! _

 

“Alright! Everyone up? Eat your breakfasts, roll up your bedrolls, and meet me outside!” Oobleck exclaimed before bolting off.

 

“Someone’s a morning person,” Blake grumbled. She looked over to Weiss, who had taken a seat on her bedroll and was fishing through the meal sack. “Weiss, you don’t look so good. Your face is flushed pretty bad.”

 

“It’s probably just a summer cold,” Weiss said dismissively. “I’ve trained through worse.”  _ That doesn’t explain why my back feels like it’s on fire! _

 

“Regardless, let us know if it becomes too much,” Blake said. “It’s not very smart to fight an enemy when your body’s already busy fighting an infection. Even in the Fang, we didn’t make sick members go out and fight.”

 

“I can handle it,” Weiss said, taking a bite out of her ration cake. “Like I said, I’ve trained through worse.”

 

“Just don’t be an idiot and let it get out of hand,” Blake deadpanned.

 

“Oh, come on, Blake! It’s probably just morning sickness! Is it morning sickness, Weiss? You preggers?”

 

“Am I… what?”

 

“You know… the rabbit died? Tin roof rusted? Pea in the pod? Being late? Wearing the bustle wrong? Table for one, eating for two? Up the duff? In the Pudding Club?”

 

“I like pudding,” Ruby said.

 

“Not that kind of pudding,” Blake groaned, facepalming.

 

“In the family way?” Yang continued. “A bat in the cave? A bun in the oven? ...Knocked up?”

 

“Get to the point!” Weis exclaimed, aggravated by Yang’s rambling.

 

“Yeesh, your mood swings are worse than normal; you  _ must _ be pregnant!” Yang proclaimed.

 

Weiss’ face turned a deep shade of red from the onslaught of indignation. “That- That’s absurd! You’re an idiot! No! I’ve never done that! I’m not pregnant, Thunder Tits!”

 

“She doesn’t look pregnant,” Blake muttered, “she looks sick.”

 

“Only because it’s not September!” Yang laughed.

 

“Zwei’s really taken a liking to you, Weiss,” Ruby said, noting the small dog curled up next to Weiss and abruptly changing the subject. “He’s been beside you ever since I got off watch.”

 

“He has?” Weiss pondered.  _ Dogs have been known to detect illnesses years before they show symptoms… _ “I guess he’s my dog now.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“You can keep him,” Blake grumbled.

 

As soon as they finished their quiet breakfast, they rolled up their bedrolls into one mass, headed outside and handed it to Oobleck, who stashed it on top of his massive pack.

 

“Everyone, everything accounted for? Students? Weapons? Dog?” Oobleck questioned, receiving a yip from Zwei. “Miss Schnee!”

 

“Wha- Yes?”

 

“How are you feeling? You look quite feverish.”

 

“A little cold, but nothing I can’t handle,” Weiss replied, feeling herself starting to shiver.

 

“Very well, then,” Oobleck said, uncharacteristically slowly, his eyebrows indicating how much he doubted her claim. “Moving on!” The day passed slowly, the group carving a path through the Grimm-infested urban jungle as Oobleck inspected everything that didn’t immediately resemble beowolf droppings.

 

More than once, Ruby watched Weiss struggle to keep up with the number of Grimm assaulting her, even though they’d normally be no problem. Just when she was about to step in, the heiress would pull through and rendezvous with her team. Eventually, she brought it upon herself to ask Yang and Blake to help keep tabs on Weiss, just in case.

 

“Alright, we’ll keep doing it,” Yang said. “I hope it’s just a cold… I think she’s getting worse.”

 

“She’s tougher than she looks,” Blake said. “Give it a couple days, she’ll be back to her old, bitchy self again.”

 

“No time for socializing, must get to work analyzing the surroundings and slaughtering Grimm!” Oobleck exclaimed, appearing beside their little group.

 

“Umm, Dr. Oobleck?” Ruby questioned, waving off Blake and Yang.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I know you asked Weiss about her health earlier, but,” she paused and watched the heiress handle a trio of beowolves, “doesn’t she seem less… graceful than usual? It looks like she’s struggling...”

 

“Yes, I have been keeping an eye on her when I can. The four of you are my responsibility, after all. That being said, I have noticed her condition degrading over the past two days. I have seen illness in the field, and right now, I trust this isn’t anything she hasn’t been through before.”

 

“Thanks, Doctor,” Ruby said before rushing off to meet yet another wave of Grimm.

\----------

“Alright, everyone, time to wake up,” Yang said, getting off guard duty. No sooner had Weiss sat up than her head went light, causing her to stagger on her supporting arm a bit as she gained her bearings. A breeze came through their shelter, and it felt like they had taken this mission in the dead of winter… and she went for fashion over function. “How are you doing, Weiss?”

 

“F-fine,” she shivered.

 

“Doubtful,” Blake said.

 

“Okay, fine, I’m a little chilly!” Weiss exclaimed, feeling her stomach perform acrobatic feats while the rest of her body tried in vain to keep warm. Suddenly, a very cold hand pressed against her forehead.

 

“You’ve got a fever,” Yang noted. “We’ll-”

 

“It’s nothing I can’t handle! I’ve trained through worse!”

 

“Training and combat are two different beasts, Weiss,” Yang said. “That being said, are you telling me your dad forced you to train while  _ sick _ ?”

 

“I did it voluntarily,” Weiss said. “Where’s Oobleck?”

 

“He’s already waiting for us outside,” Yang said.

 

“Good,” Weiss said, rolling up her mat and placing it at the head of Yang’s. “I’ll be waiting outside for all of you.”

 

“It’s probably better to avoid the subject of family, Yang,” Blake said. “Let’s just finish eating so we can catch them.” 

 

As the day progressed, Weiss could feel her teammates and Oobleck watching her, and it only served to add to the headache she was feeling as she struggled to dispatch the small group of beowolves currently attacking her. At least the activity distracted her from the aches everywhere else in her body. After wrapping up that group, she rendezvoused with her teammates, trying to avoid using Myrtenaster for support.

 

“You look like you could use a break,” Ruby said through her own tired breaths.

 

“I’m… I’m fine,” Weiss said, stumbling backward slightly as she stood fully upright. “See?” She gave a weak smile.

 

“You look like a stiff breeze could knock you over,” Yang remarked.

 

“No, really, I’m  _ fine _ ! Stop worrying so much!”

 

“Play the tough girl act all you want,” Blake began, folding her arms, “nobody’s buying it.”


	12. Mountain Glenn, Pt. II

“Alright, everyone, time to get up!” Blake ordered, earning tired groans from everyone, save for Weiss, who couldn’t even muster the energy to look up at the cat from her curled-up position on the mat. “Weiss, it’s time to move.”

 

“Cold,” Weiss croaked, tears streaming down onto her mat. “So… cold.”

 

“Weiss!” Blake exclaimed, stopping herself from trying to push the heiress to get up when she noticed how much she was shaking. She looked at Ruby and Yang in concern, the two appearing to be at as much of a loss as she.  _ What do I do?  _ she mouthed to them.

 

“Doctor Oobleck!” Ruby shouted, standing. “Doctor Oobleck!?”

 

“Yes!” Oobleck exclaimed, suddenly appearing. “Well, spit it out, girl, we don’t have all day.”

 

“It’s Weiss.”

 

Kneeling to investigate, he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. She smelled awful, and raising the back of her bolero, he stifled a surprised gasp. “You three! Hold the perimeter while I administer first aid.” Somehow managing to get Weiss to uncurl, he rolled the half-conscious girl onto her stomach  and raised up the back of her jacket, scrunching his nose at the smell becoming exponentially worse as he exposed festering sores on her shoulder blades. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a bottle and dumped some of the contents on Weiss’ back, resulting in pained gasping and crying. “It’s okay,” Oobleck said quietly, “it’s just alcohol.”

 

No sooner did he turn back to his travel pack than she began to mumble, “Father, please don’t hurt me anymore… I already cut them off. I told you this…”

 

“It’s okay,” Oobleck said, trying to soothe her. “I’m not here to hurt you.” Giving another dose of alcohol, he looked more closely at the freshly-cleaned wound. A piece of bone appeared to be protruding from her flesh.  _ I’m not sure that’s normal… _ Taking two boxes from the pack, he took a folded cloth from one and applied it to the exposed wounds, and unwound a roll of tape to bind it to her. He lowered her jacket, now soiled with blood and pus. “Miss Belladonna!”

 

“Yes, Doctor?” she inquired, appearing beside him.

 

“I need you to take your weapon and cut as much of this jacket off Miss Schnee as you can. It’s not doing her any good.”

 

Hesitating, Blake slid Gambol’s blade under her teammate’s outerwear and slowly cut the ruined article vertically in half, noting the odd stains on the fabric, and helped her instructor peel it off her arms. “Why not dress the wounds after doing this?” Blake asked, noting the fresh bandage spanning Weiss’ upper back.

 

“They were festering terribly, and the smell was awful. I wanted to spare all of you the misery, and Miss Schnee the embarrassment that’s sure to come later.” In truth, he had questions he felt weren’t for her teammates’ ears. “Ruby! Yang!” In a blink, the other two healthy teammates appeared before him. “From now on, you will take turns tending to your friend and monitoring her condition. If her condition worsens, send for me immediately! Any volunteers?” Blake sheepishly raised her hand. “Excellent! Miss Belladonna, do be mindful of your teammate’s condition at all times, and be careful to dispatch any Grimm that make it into the building! Ruby! Yang! You’re with me!”

 

Blake sat silently by the fire, listening to Weiss shuffle herself back onto her side and curl up into a ball once more, arms pressed into her gut and whimpering slightly in her pain. The cat sighed at both her situation, and her teammate’s and removed her bow to unobstruct her hearing. “To think I once hated you…”

 

“Ilia,” Weiss said weakly, piquing Blake’s attention. The heiress was staring at her through bleary eyes as tears streamed down her face, Zwei curled up in a ball against her midsection. “Ilia… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...”

\---------

“So, Doc, what’s on the list today?” Yang asked once they were outside their shelter.

 

“We need to find enough metal to create a signal enhancer to boost the… signal of one of our scrolls. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just some wire a couple feet in length.”

 

“We passed a mechanic’s shop yesterday,” Ruby said. “It’s about half a mile, but…”

 

“...The number of Grimm will make this risky,” Yang finished. “We should still be in scroll range for Blake in case something happens. What’s this mean for the mission, Doc?”

 

“Technically, the mission having to be abandoned means it’s a failure, but given the circumstances… if we can get everyone out alive, I will list it as a success. Now,” he said, extending his thermus into a cannon, “shall we be off?”

 

“Wasn’t he just drinking out of that?” Ruby asked, looking to Yang for an answer as Oobleck walked off. The blonde could only manage a shrug before the sisters followed their professor. They hadn’t even made it a block before a pack of beowolves cornered them off.

 

“Get out of my way!” Yang shouted, charging into the pack of Grimm, Ruby following suit. The pack didn’t last long before they were all cut down.

 

“Well done, girls,” Oobleck said, continuing along the path. “I think you just set a record. That being said, we must be careful. Your angry outburst may have just attracted more.”

 

“Chill pill…. Got it….” Yang muttered before inhaling deeply to try and calm herself.

 

“I’ll take to the skies,” Ruby said before sheathing Crescent Rose and attempting to fly off, only for a strong hand to catch her wing.

 

“No, Ruby,” Oobleck said flatly. “These skies are dangerous. You would be easy prey for a nevermore or griffon. We must stay close. Besides, if Miss Belladonna is in need, it would be ideal to send you flying if she requires backup.”

 

“Got it,” Ruby nodded, folding her wings back and unsheathing her weapon. “We should keep moving.” The Grimm onslaught seemed to happen once every block or two. At one point, a beowolf grappled Ruby from behind, only to be shot off her by Oobleck. “Thanks, Prof- Doctor.”

 

“We’re almost there,” Oobleck said, pointing to a half-demolished garage door caddy-corner from them. It was easy enough getting to the building, just a quick sprint across the intersection before they pressed themselves against the exterior wall. Oobleck counted down with his fingers, before motioning for the sisters to follow him into the abandoned building. Rotting cars lay damaged, the lift arms having dropped out from under them, the light from his weapon’s ever-present flame revealing a skeleton crushed from the waist down by a sedan on its side. “Alright, girls, let’s look for silver or lead wire, and bailing wire if we can find some. Some pipe or sheet metal probably wouldn’t hurt, either.” The sound of gunshots rang out, and Oobleck looked to see Yang blasting the dirty windows, which had somehow not broken over the years, illuminating the interior of the shop. Unfortunately, the clouds of dust it made didn’t settle quickly.

 

“Miss Xiao Long! Explain yourself!” the Doctor demanded as he wiped grime off of his lenses.

 

“We needed light, and were you going to go into a dark building when none of us have night vision?” the blonde asked, coughing. There wasn’t much light, but it was better than what they were working with prior. Spotting a suitable pipe, she went over and removed the handle from a hydraulic floor jack that was probably rusted to the ground by now. “Look, it’s an old toolbox.” She approached the chest and swiped a ridiculous amount of dust off the top. “Clickd, huh? Someone had money. Ooh! Look at this, Ruby!” Yang said as she lifted the lid and pulled out a mess of wires with various tools attached to them. “This is the whole set of power tools Dad wanted! I wonder if they still work?”

 

“Yang, we’re not looting the toolbox, no matter how badly I want them…” Ruby replied bitterly.

 

“It’s not like the dead are going to use them anytime soon.”

 

“If you two are done pratting around, we need to find soldering wire,” Oobleck said sternly as he started rummaging through the toolbox, pocketing a socket.

 

“What was that?” Ruby inquired.

 

“A tool I lost and haven’t had time to go out and buy,” Oobleck said. “A size 12 triple-square. Ah, here we are.” He picked up a spool of wire. “Bailing wire. Now, all we need is lead or silver wire…” A low growl cut him off. Another pack of beowolves had sniffed them out. Oobleck gave an exasperated sigh.

 

“We’ll deal with them,” Ruby assured as Yang leapt into the pack. “Just keep looking, Doctor.”

 

The sound of gunshots echoed through the building as the two sisters dealt with the pack, though they seemed to be taking longer than usual. Finally finding a spool of lead wire, Oobleck stashed it into his trench coat, where he was met with a pair of griffons that had pinned his students under their claws, Ruby and Yang struggling to keep their mouths away from their faces. Rushing in, Oobleck first smacked the one on Ruby in the side of the head, knocking it off balance, then performed a golf swing on the one harassing Yang, sending it reeling. He smiled as he noticed he cracked the bone mask it wore. “On your feet, girls! Get going!”

 

“Does anyone like playing golf with you in their freetime anymore, Doc? Because with a swing like that, I’m going to guess no.”

 

“Never had the pleasure, actually,” Oobleck said, firing at one of the griffons, immolating it in an instant. A few swings from Ruby’s scythe was all that was needed to take down the second. “Now that that’s dealt with, we should hurry back. Quickly, girls! Come on!” A crack of lightning struck down a lamppost right next to them, a downpour soaking all of them instantly. “On second thought, perhaps we should stay here for the time being…”

 

Heading back inside, Yang draped a tarp over the toolbox to keep the contents safe. Rain and mist blew in through the shattered windows, making almost no spot in the vacant building dry. “Well, this is just great…” She looked at the sky through the shattered windows, and it had become quite dark, yet it was only the middle of the day.

\----------

Blake watched from the windows, listening to the gunshots from her teammates in the distance and keeping an eye out for Grimm, Weiss’ mumblings unintelligible all the while. A loud thundercrack sounded not far off, causing a substantial amount of pain in her cat ears. She looked at Weiss. The girl hadn’t seemed to even notice. The rain splashed into their shelter, prompting Blake to back up from the window, then drag Weiss to a drier spot on the floor. 

 

Listening to the relentless pounding of the rain, the cat gave a bored sigh. The rain hadn’t let up in some time, and though she normally enjoyed it, it just compounded her stress, and she found herself worrying about her teammates. They were supposed to be back hours ago, and she hadn’t heard any gunshots in a while. The thing that brought her out of her bored trance was Weiss mumbling for the upteenth time, “Ilia… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

 

“Weiss, what are you talking about?” Blake asked herself again. She’d asked Weiss hours ago, but the heiress had seemingly fallen into a troubled sleep for the time being. Taking a seat by her sickly teammate, she mumbled, “Why are you sorry?”

 

“Your parents…”

 

“What about my parents?”

 

“They died… and everyone laughed…” The heiress reached out to grip Blake’s hand, but wasn’t able to extend it that far before reeling it back in to try and ease her stomach. “I wish there was… something I could do.”

 

“It’s okay, Weiss,” Blake said. “There’s nothing you could have done. I forgive you.”

 

A momentary pause. “Thank you,” Weiss said before falling into silence, her breathing and occasional coughing the only indication she was still alive.

 

“Ilia,” Blake whispered, pressing the heel of her palm into her forehead, “why didn’t you tell me?”

…...

“Blake! Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed, running up the stairs, followed closely by Yang and Oobleck, all of whom were gasping for breath. “Phew. I feel like I just ran a marathon!”

 

“How’s Weiss?” Yang inquired as Oobleck set out their scavenged materials. A pause. “She’s getting worse, isn’t she?”

 

“She’s hasn’t gotten better,” Blake said.

 

“You’re such an optimist.”

 

“Funny, considering you don’t tend to acknowledge reality,” Blake growled.

 

“Guys,” Ruby said sternly, attempting to diffuse the argument before it could get out of hand. “Wait until we get to the dorm to bicker. Right now, Weiss needs our help. That should be our priority.”

 

“So,” Blake began, giving a slight pause, “what took you guys so long to get back, other than the rain?”

 

“Well, a pack of, like, 50 beowolves attacked us when we went to a mechanic’s garage a few blocks East. Then we got ambushed and our heads nearly bitten off by a pair of griffons.”

 

“You should’ve seen Dr. Oobleck!” Ruby exclaimed, laughing. “I’ve never seen anyone golf swing a Grimm like that!”

 

“Yes, despite my less-than-impressive physique, I do pride myself on being able to deliver some devastating damage to an opponent in a melee encounter,” Oobleck said. “Especially with the ‘golf swing’, as you call it.”

 

“Hole in one,” Weiss groaned.

 

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Ice Queen.”

 

“Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed, zipping over to her partner, who was giving her a thousand-yard stare. “Weiss, how are you feeling?”

 

“Terrible,” Weiss croaked. “Do you think I’m a disappointment, Winter? Do you hate me, too?”

 

Ruby’s heart sank and she shook her head in disbelief. “Weiss! It’s me! Ruby!” she shouted as tears welled up in her eyes and started streaming down her face. “Your partner…”

 

“What are you talking about, Winter? Ruby’s in Vale…”

 

“You’re not a disappointment, Weiss,” Ruby said, dissolving into tears. A comforting hand on her shoulder brought her attention back up. Oobleck looked over Weiss solemnly.

 

“She’s still alive, which is something,” he said. “Her mind just isn’t with us right now.”

 

“So, Doc, what do you think is wrong with her?” Yang asked.

 

“Well, we have a fever, flushing, dizziness, chills,” he felt her neck, “a fast heart rate, fatigue, varying levels of consciousness, and mental confusion. It all points to Sepsis, but as I am a huntsman and not a medical professional, I cannot say with certainty what it is.”

 

“Doctor, that’s not just bad. She might actually die out here! We need an extraction,” Blake said as her cat ears flattened into her hair.

 

“I know, Blake. That’s why we were gone today. Our signal here is terrible or I would have already called for a bullhead.”

 

“We don’t need anything else, do we?” Ruby asked, anxious.

 

“Regrettably, I was not able to find a point fine enough to solder the wire to one of our scrolls. We will head back out first thing tomorrow. Perhaps that shop has a soldering iron or electrical probe we can use?”

 

“Blake,” Ruby began, “you should come with us tomorrow. Your night vision would prove useful for looking around that old shop.”

 

“Then it looks like I’m looking after Weiss,” Yang said. “I hope she’ll last that long.”

 

“Don’t worry Yang. I’m sure even death would send her back after a day or two. She has that knack for getting on every single nerve after all.”

 

“You’re the most depressing optimist I’ve ever met,” Yang groaned, surprisingly not telling one of her terrible jokes.

 

“There,” Oobleck said, looking over his handiwork. The spool of bailing wire hanging out one end of the jack handle, and the end of the wire sticking out the other side about a foot, both ends taped to the handle. “Unfortunately, that’s all we can manage for now.”

 

“Can’t we use Myrtenaster?” Ruby inquired, grasping for any sliver of hope. “I’ve watched Weiss weld steel with it before.”

 

“While the blade does end in a very fine point, it is much too large to send a small enough amount of aura through to solder a piece of wire to a scroll’s antenna without destroying the device. I’m sorry, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.”

 

“When morning comes, I hope it’s not too late,” Yang said.

 

“I’ll take first watch,” Oobleck said, standing at the outcrop, weapon at the ready.

\-------------

“Weiss was barely responsive this morning,” Ruby said as they headed down the street toward the mechanic’s shop they visited yesterday. “Do you think…?”

 

“Sick people tend to have irregular sleeping patterns, Ruby,” Blake said. “I’m sure it’s just because she’s tired from being so sick these past few days. I know you’re worried, but she’ll pull through.”

 

“I hope you’re right,” she replied. The walk there was much more quiet than the previous day, with only a small pack of beowolves showing up to slow them down. 

 

“Wow,” Ruby said. “It didn’t take nearly as long to reach this place, today.”

 

“Right, so what are we looking for?” Blake asked, uncovering and rummaging through the toolbox Yang had found.

 

“Anything small with a fine enough point that we can solder a wire to a scroll’s antenna,” Oobleck said, helping search through the massive container.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a toolbox this big,” Blake said, looking down its width, twin cabinets hanging on either side of the three-wide tool chest. “This could take a while…” Continuing to rummage through the drawers, Ruby eventually brought out her scroll’s flashlight to aid her search. 

 

“Found a few picks,” Ruby said, piling a variety of straight and angled picks on the stainless top, some of which were long and double-ended.

 

“Very good,” Oobleck said, “but if we can find a soldering iron, we can just plug it up to some Lightning Dust. I’m not sure how reliable a pick will be.”

 

Nodding, Ruby started poking through the right-hand side cabinet, where she found an orange box. Popping the plastic restraints, she opened it to find a needle-tipped device with a cord ending in a two-pronged plug. “Doctor Oobleck?”

 

“Ah, yes! That’s what we’re looking for! Splendid! Now, put the picks in with it, just in case.”

 

“I found some wire cutters,” Blake said, holding up the aforementioned tool.

 

“Those will prove useful, as well! Now, let’s get back to base!” No sooner had they exited the old shop than gunshots rang out a few blocks away, along with some screeching.

 

“Yang! Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed, dashing ahead of Oobleck and Blake.

\--------

“You’re going to be okay, Weiss,” Yang said, stroking the heiress’ hair, listening to her ragged breathing as she shivered on the mat. Somehow, she didn’t believe her own words. Zwei let out a whine. “I know, boy. I know.”

 

“What do you think?” Weiss asked, turning her head to look at Yang. The blonde found herself mildly disturbed by the glazed look in Weiss’ eyes.

 

“What do I think?” Yang asked. “About what?”

 

“Am I a mistake… mother?”

 

“You’re not a mistake, Weiss,” Yang said, running her fingers through the pale girl’s hair again. “You might make mistakes, but you’re not one.”

 

“But I’m… I’m not… I’m an abomination...”

 

“Weiss, you’re not a mistake,” the blonde said, her heart aching for the girl beside her.  _ If these are going to be her last moments, I don’t want her to die lonely. _ “You can be bull-headed, and ornery, but you’re not a mistake. Stop thinking you’re not worth anything. Stop saying you’re a disappointment. Stop saying… Stop saying you’re an abomination!” Tears started streaming down her face. “Underneath that name… underneath that pride, that arrogance, lies a good person that wants the best for others. Even if you have a unique way of showing it.”

 

“But Father…”

 

“I don’t care what your father says!” Yang exclaimed, despite not knowing what Jacques ever told the heiress. “He’s not here, so whatever he says about you doesn’t matter! All that matters is what those who actually care about you say! We’ve never flattered you. We’ve always meant what we said and said what we meant.... Weiss, promise me something.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Promise me that, no matter what, you won’t die here. You won’t die alone. You won’t die lonely.”

 

“I’m sorry… mother. I want to, but… I already know… not to make promises… I don’t know I can keep.”

 

“If you didn’t know how much longer you had to live, if you were ill with no guarantee of survival, would you be able to make that promise? If not to me, then to your sister? To your friends?”

 

“I could try.”

 

“Thanks, Wei-” A screech interrupted Yang. Running for the window, several griffons were circling overhead, and one landed on the outcrop to try and get in. “Get out!” Yang shouted, planting her fist firmly into the Grimm’s head, her shotgun gauntlet doing the rest. Launching herself onto the roof, she was finally able to estimate the number of Grimm assaulting them. “Oh, damn the luck…” Trading her buckshot for an incendiary load, she started unloading on the griffons soaring overhead. She scored a series of hits on one, then another, and they died with pained shrieks. With a screech, one came down, trying to bite at her. Its momentum sent her sliding back a short distance as she held its jaws open with her hands. Giving a mighty roar, she spun its head on its neck, sending the beast sailing over the edge of the building and evaporating on the way down. “Who else wants some!?” Another one screeched and dove for her, but a flash of red saw it cut in half just before it reached her.

 

“You alright?” Ruby asked, landing on the roof mere feet from Yang.

 

“I’m fine,” Yang said, destroying another griffon with an uppercut. “Ruby?”

 

“Yeah?” Ruby asked, slicing one lengthwise.

 

“What if Weiss doesn’t make it out alive?”

 

“Then we’re just not fit to be huntresses,” Ruby said, charging at a pair of oncoming Grimm, decapitating both in one swing. “Weiss! If you can hear me, don’t die! If you die on us, I won’t ever forgive you!”

 

“Two left!” Yang exclaimed, the griffons screeching and descending right on top of them. Ruby waited until her rifle was right up against one’s chin, the discharge blowing its head to pieces, while Yang caved in the chest of the other one, both Grimm evaporating. The cityscape was quiet once more. “Come on, Rubes,” Yang said as her sister gasped for air, using her weapon for support, “let’s get inside.” No sooner did the sisters enter the building than both collapsed by the fire, Oobleck and Blake following shortly after.

 

“We got it,” Oobleck said, holding up the orange case.

 

“Great!” Yang exclaimed, still short of breath. The team watched as Oobleck dismantled his own scroll and rested the plug in the Lightning Dust. Amazingly, the device, which had been laying dormant for nearly 17 years, still worked.

 

“Yes! Yes!” Oobleck exclaimed, overjoyed as he soldered the steel wire to his scroll. “Alright! If you girls will excuse me, I have to make a call.” Grabbing the scroll and jack handle, he made his way onto the roof and held the handle as high as he could manage and dialed a number on his scroll. The receiving end came in staticy.

 

“This…Beacon Tran…services do you…”

 

“This is Dr. Oobleck of Beacon Academy. I am in Mountain Glenn with a team of first-years, one of which has fallen gravely ill with what I believe to be Sepsis.”

 

“Stranded… in.  This… -fic Control. We…not extract wi...coordinates or….-cation.” The call dropped, and Oobleck stared at the device, steadily becoming angrier the longer he looked at its blank screen.

 

“All that work… for nothing!?” He let out an angry cry and stomped the cement beneath him like a child who didn’t get the toy they wanted. After a minute of huffing, he froze when a realization occurred to him. “Wait… We’re not high enough!” Spinning around, he faced what was once the tallest building on Sanus, second only to the CCT in Vale. “Merlot Industries… It’s probably irresponsible, but I don’t have a choice… Ruby!”

 

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed, appearing on the roof.

 

“I need you to do something that is incredibly risky, given our surroundings, but I need you to fly to the old Merlot Industries building and send out an order for an emergency bullhead. A flare will be sent up to indicate our location once the craft enters visual range. I would say otherwise, but I’m afraid we have no more time.”

 

“I’ll get it done,” Ruby said, holding out her hand, receiving the jack handle and scroll from Oobleck. She used her semblance to shoot into the air, then to fly off.

 

“Be careful!”

….

The minutes of flight it took to reach the old building felt longer than normal, like she was slow in her flight, despite this being the fastest she had flown in over a year. Before she knew it, however, she was right on top of her destination, and skidded on landing. She sighed, thankful she hadn’t detached the wire from Oobleck’s scroll. Bringing up his call history, she dialed in the last number called.

 

“This is Beacon Air Transportation, what services do you require?” a man asked.

 

“This is Ruby Rose, speaking in place of Dr. Oobleck. We’re in need of emergency evacuation from Mountain Glenn. One of my teammates… I think she’s dying.”

 

“Roger, locking onto your location, now.”

 

“The evacuation point is actually a mile north of where I currently am. A flare will be sent up once the bullhead is in visual range.”

 

“Copy that, Miss Rose. Dispatching a bullhead for extraction immediately.” The line hung up, and Ruby waited until the aircraft was visible on the horizon, Yang sending up an incendiary to signal their location. Smiling with relief, she looked down briefly before jumping off to join them, then stopped and did a double take. She could have sworn she saw someone walking  _ into _ the old building. She shook her head, dismissing it as a hallucination before she rendezvoused with the bullhead and her team.

 

“Slide on up, Miss Rose,” Oobleck said, clipping the wire and handle free of his scroll. “I’ll cover your ascent.”

 

Scurrying up the rope, she was helped into the aircraft by Yang and Blake, and was surprised to see a few other friendly faces, as well. “Coco? Velvet? What are you doing out here?”

 

“We’re hired guns!” Coco said, giving a wink. It wasn’t often anyone saw her without her sunglasses. “Really, though, we heard something happened and were called up to provide armed support for the bullhead.” Her gaze fell to Weiss, Zwei having curled up next to her. “Looks like we made it just in time.”

 

Ruby smiled in gratitude, then took a seat next to her sister, her smile fading after Oobleck clambered onboard and the bullhead started heading back toward Vale.

 

“What’s the matter, sis?” Yang asked, concerned.

 

“The first day out, Weiss asked me if I regretted taking this mission.”

 

“And?”

 

“I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know many of you are anxiously awaiting the reveal for what kind of faunus she and Ruby are, which is why Ship recently made me write out that whole scene, which will come out somewhere later down the pipeline. Until then, feel free to speculate.  
> Also, as far as regrowing limbs goes, that will be touched on in a much nearer chapter.
> 
> Thank you for your patience,  
> No_Count
> 
> PS: I hope the fight scenes weren't underwhelming...
> 
> A few things that weren’t mentioned....  
> 1\. This is intended to be more of a slow burn/reveal type fic so, yes, we will answer many of your questions, but many of them will go unanswered for a while.  
> 2\. Congratulations to those of you that guessed infection! I hope we weren’t painfully obvious with the foreshadowing, even though it was part of painting the scenes.  
> 3\. I’m out of commission right now with a sinus infection.... like I am every year (this is mostly bad news for anyone who also follows my personal work, Reluctant Heroes, as I might not be able to put out a chapter today. It’s nearly complete but thinking critically hurts). Chapter 13 is almost complete and, while we would like to post it early for you as a gift, we can’t. In the interest of my health, and our sanity as authors, we’re going to be sticking to our biweekly posting schedule. 
> 
> Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the ride! ~IShipYouNot


	13. Recovery

    Groaning, Weiss put her hand to her head to try and ease her throbbing headache, no doubt caused by the relentless beeping of the machine next to her, the only sign of activity in a rather plain-looking white room.“Where... am I?” she thought aloud.

 

    “You’re in Vale,” a familiar voice said. Snapping her attention to the left, it was Blake sitting in one of the chairs, having just closed the book in her hand. “More specifically, Radiant General Hospital, East Wing, 16th floor. They actually had this entire wing on this floor remain empty for you.”

 

    Weiss sighed and pressed her palm against her forehead, turning her attention to the ceiling. “I appreciate the courteous silence, but I’m not in the mood to be treated like royalty.” She sighed again, resting her arm beside her and turning her gaze back to Blake. “How did I get here?”

 

    “A bullhead brought you straight here, and Yang carried you inside. The rest of us were treated for combat-related injuries and released the next morning.”

 

    “Why did they have you stay overnight?”

 

“The doctor claimed quarantine, but the nurse told me it’s best for the team to stay together in case things didn’t end well.”

 

“Meaning...?”

 

Blake frowned, and if the bow was any indication, was trying to fold her cat ears flat against her head. “The doctors only gave you a 7% chance to live… They said people that let Sepsis go for as long as you had don’t tend to survive, let-alone recover.”

 

“I... see,” Weiss said. “How long have I been out?”

 

“Including our time in Mountain Glenn? Nine days. You’re still on antibiotics and another IV for dehydration.”

 

“We have an absurd amount of assignments past due, don’t we,” Weiss groaned, dreading the mountain of papers no doubt waiting for her.

 

“Only two. Goodwitch marked you as exempt from them until you’re able to return to class. Yang has actually been bringing her work when she visits. Her grade is improving and her notes would make you proud.”

 

“You’ve been taking turns watching over me?” Weiss asked incredulously.

 

“Yes? Ruby stayed here for two days before she finally gave in. We promised to keep an eye on

you, and in return, she’s supposed to take care of herself and her duties as our leader. She still cried herself to sleep every night.”

 

“I don’t know if that’s sweet or unsettling,” she said, giving a mirthless chuckle.

 

“I mean, the possibility of losing you affected us all negatively, so… take it as you will?”

 

“How,” Weiss paused, rolling her hand over her wrist as she fished for the right word, “charming?”

 

    “Just be glad you’re alive,” Blake said, closing her book and walking over to the side of Weiss’ bed. “Now, I think it’s my turn to ask some questions,” she said grimly as she sat down on the edge of the mattress, facing the heiress. “How do you know Ilia?”

 

    Weiss caught her breath in her throat and snapped her gaze to meet Blake’s. “What are you talking about?”

 

    Now, it was Blake’s turn to sigh. “While we were in Mountain Glenn, you called me Ilia, telling me how you were sorry about my parents, and everyone laughing about them dying. That sounds awful similar to an Ilia I knew in… in my previous life. Tell me, what was her last name?”

 

    “...Amitola?” Weiss said, wincing.

 

    “How do you know her?” Blake asked, turning her head away as she waited for an answer.

 

    “We went to Atlas Junior Combat School together. She… was my best, and probably only real friend I had while I was there. Once she was expelled, I was completely alone.”

 

    “She told me she knew a bird faunus who was also trying to hide what she was.” Weiss’ mind ground to a halt and every muscle in her body tensed. “She said she was an anomaly that came from a family entirely made up of humans. But, she never mentioned you.” Blake turned her gaze to a more relaxed Weiss. “She may have been your best friend… maybe you just weren’t _her_ best friend?”

 

    “When you put it that way, it makes sense,” Weiss said, internally jumping for joy that she dodged that cannonball. Although, looking down at her hands, she truly began to wonder if that was the case. Maybe she really wasn’t Ilia’s best friend, after all. “I…” Weiss started, eyes darting up, away, and then up to hers again. Blake watched carefully, tilting her head to the side on a whim. Weiss and Ruby always laughed when Zwei or cats in the web videos did it. Some awkward part of her wondered if maybe being part feline would have the same effect. “I never got to apologize for what happened to her parents…. You’re making it really difficult to feel bad about this, you know.”

 

    “Really?” Blake asked, incredulous. “How could you not? Weren’t you two around each other a lot?”

 

    “When she got expelled, I was out for a doctor’s visit,” Weiss answered. “I never would have figured out what happened if I didn’t ask the Headmaster. I took a lot of heat for being friends with a ‘fiendish animal’ from the girls that had their teeth broken.”

 

    “How did you react to that?”

 

    “I told them they deserved every second of the pain,” she said, smirking mischievously. “Did Ilia ever mention anyone else from her time at that school?”

 

    Blake hummed thoughtfully. “Other than her so-called ‘friends’? No. Just the unnamed bird faunus. When I asked her for a name, she said it was a secret, but she did tell me she admired that student, even had a bit of a crush on her. I wonder if we’ll meet her at some point during the Tournament?”

 

    _You’re talking to her_ , some part of Weiss was trying to force past her brain-to-mouth filter. Instead, she cleared her throat and turned to the tower of Get Well cards with a Teddy Ursa at the base. “What’s all this?”

 

    “Practically the whole school came by to visit. There’s a card from nearly every team and professor.”

 

    “I can see that. Even Cardinal sent a card? That’s weird…”

 

    “Your condition made headlines across Remnant. Once our classmates found out, it was decided each team would get one card each, just so we didn’t totally buy out _All-Mart_ or _Dr. Green’s_.” Her face fell as a new thought crossed her mind. “I... overheard one of the nurses relaying the news to your father.”

 

    “Do I even _want_ to know what he said?”

 

    “He said he’d keep his fingers crossed... whatever that meant.”

 

    “I think I know what it means,” Weiss deadpanned. Desperate to distract the other faunus, she turned her attention to the stuffed Grimm doll. “What’s with this?”

 

    “That would be Nora.”

 

    “Really?” Weiss asked, trying not to sound disappointed and failing miserably.

 

    “She said she tried to bring you a live one and killed it on accident,” Blake said, trying to stifle her laughter at the thought. “This was Ren’s solution to avoiding accidentally murdering the hospital staff and patients.” They both enjoyed a laugh before Blake adopted a more somber tone. “By the way, I’m not sure what you said to Yang, but I heard you call Ruby ‘Winter’. You thought you were in… not Vale.”

 

    “Winter’s my sister…”

 

    “Perhaps you see Ruby as a sister, deep down?”

   

They both shared a look of thoughtfulness, before waving the thought off with a laugh. “Winter’s straighter than Goodwitch’s riding crop. Ruby’s… whimsical tendencies are a nice break, but they don’t stand in her place.”

 

“That’s true, but I’ll warn you; you broke her heart when you asked her if you were a disappointment, so don’t be surprised if she’s extra clingy.”

 

“She’s already extra clingy!”

 

“More clingy than normal, then. I’m going to assume you want peace and quiet, so I’m going to let you enjoy it until the condiments show up,” Blake said, giving Weiss a soft smile. “I’ll visit occasionally. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the dorm.”

 

“Aww… You’re one of my favorite people.”

 

“Why’s that? Because I’m quiet?”

 

“That and when you do talk, it’s usually relevant. And did you seriously just call the sisters ‘condiments’?”

 

“I was wondering how long it would take you to _mustard_ the energy to _ketchup_.”

 

“What did Yang do to break you while I wasn’t around!?”

 

“With her being so preoccupied with school work, I guess there was a void I subconsciously filled. You’re welcome.”

 

“Was that really necessary, though?” a familiar voice asked in apparent disbelief.

 

“Listen, Rubes, I told you already that if some creeper is going to sit a mile away and take pictures of us changing in the hopes of catching Weiss doing something worthy of a story, I have no qualms about shoving their camera up their ass.”

 

“I didn’t think you’d be so literal about it!”

 

“Well, look at it this way, at least now he can tell the doctors he needs to shit a Brik,” Yang said before coming around the corner with her sister and locking eyes with Weiss. After a brief second of silence, she gave a wide smile before nearly lunging at the heiress as she loudly proclaimed, “Momma’s home!”

 

    “Excuse me!?”

 

    “Weiss! Weiss? Weiss! You’re awake! Yay! I missed you so much! Please don’t leave me….” Ruby scream-cried as she dissolved into unintelligible babbling, crushing the heiress with all the strength she could muster in one unrelenting bear hug before Yang could even get past Blake.

 

    “Ruby… Ruby,” Weiss choked. “Please stop. You’re… crushing me!” She took a sharp breath as Ruby released her hold.

 

    “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Ruby exclaimed feverishly, her wings flapping wildly in her panic. “It’s just… I really missed you. And I wasn’t sure if I’d get to see you again…”

 

    “I’ll leave you three alone,” Blake said, walking out. She stopped at the door. “By the way, Weiss, Professor Ozpin wants you to come to his office as soon as the hospital discharges you. He said you’re not in trouble, he just has some questions.”

 

    “I guess I’ll see him then,” Weiss said, then turned to face the sisters. “What was that? Was any of that really necessary?”

 

    “Yeah,” Yang began, “and she took your illness _really_ hard.”

 

    “Don’t be an idiot, Ruby,” Weiss sighed, laying down on her bed and staring at the ceiling.

 

    “Weiss, what are you talking about?” Ruby asked, looking to be on the verge of tears. “It’s my fault you’re-”

 

“It was _my own_ fault,” she spat, folding her arms and looking out the window, scowling. “I tried to hide it from you, and it nearly cost me my life.” Her expression softened as she turned back to her leader. “Blake already told me you blamed yourself. I didn’t tell you guys and I tried to power through it, so the blame lies with me. That being said, I’m curious to know exactly _how_ I survived my own stupidity long enough to end up here.”

 

    “It was actually Dr. Oobleck’s quick thinking,” Ruby said abruptly.

 

    “No, Ruby. Dr. Oobleck may have created that signal enhancer, but you’re the one who noticed the building that contained the materials we needed. You’re also the one who was able to get to the tallest building in the area and call for help because Oobleck couldn’t get a decent signal.” She placed a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “If you weren’t on our team, Weiss would have almost certainly died out there.”

 

    “Thanks, sis,” Ruby said, though she still looked quite down.

 

    “That’s very touching, but can I get an explanation as to why the _entire school_ sent me Get Well cards?”

 

    “They probably felt sorry for you,” Yang said. “Also, Professor Goodwitch gave a speech. I think she wanted to remind everyone that it’s not just the Grimm out there we need to be worried about. Something about comradery and the elements or something.”

 

    “Bravery, selflessness, and awareness,” Ruby sighed. “She nodded off about halfway through the opening sentence.”

 

    “Why am I not surprised,” Weiss groaned, turning her gaze to the window and shaking her head slightly.

 

    “You’ll at least be happy to know we’re all receiving a passing grade, considering the nature of our mission changed. Ruby got extra credit, naturally.”

 

    “Vaguely. There’s nothing on my face, is there?”

 

    “No,” Yang said. “Cardin came by a few days ago, back when you still looked like death. He actually looked… sympathetic, which is not something I thought he was capable of. I guess watching someone waste away in front of you kind of has that effect?”

 

    “Are we still on for the Tournament?” Weiss sighed, looking out the window and spying Amity Arena.

 

    “So far,” Ruby said. “It really depends on how you are when you get out of here. The doctors said it could take over a year for you to fully recover…”

 

    “What!?” Weiss exclaimed. “There’s no way I’m going to let some-” A firm hand on her arm silenced her.

 

    “Stay down, Ice Queen,” Yang said. “You only just woke up, and really, I’m actually surprised you’re this aware. We have until the day of, so don’t try and power through your illness again. If we can’t make the Tournament this year because you aren’t well, then fine. It’s going to be a bummer because all our families are probably going to be watching for us, but it’s better than the alternative.”

 

    “But-”

 

    “Yang’s right, Weiss,” Ruby said. “Even if we can’t get into the Vytal Tournament this year, we’ll  have another chance in our third year. You should just focus on recovering, for now.” Her frown deepened. “It might just make things worse if you push yourself too much.”

 

    “Then what am I supposed to do?” Weiss asked, defeated. “I don’t want to be stuck here, like- like-”

 

    “Like a bird in a cage?” Yang suggested, causing Weiss’ vision to snap to the blonde.

 

    “...Yes?”

 

    “Hey, don’t worry about it. Yang makes cat puns around Blake all the time!” Ruby exclaimed, waving off Yang’s simile. “Besides, those kinds of statements aren’t actually racist.”

 

    “Maybe I’d know that if I grew up around people who weren’t so uppity and self-righteous? I mean, really. How am I supposed to know what’s racist and what’s not around here?” She rested her hand on her forehead and sighed. “Coming to Vale has just been one big culture shock, even all this time later…”

 

    “Well, if it will make you feel better, we could bring cards, or… homework,” Ruby said, looking away and scratching the back of her head, cringing. “You know, stuff to help you feel better until you can come back to the dorm.”

 

    “Maybe…”

 

    “Weiss, being in a hospital is stressful, if not outright boring. I think it’d do you some good to have us visit and play King’s Corners or Rummy. I think you’d even enjoy Nertz,” Yang said, winking.

 

    Weiss stared blankly for a moment, then said, “I have no idea what any of that is supposed to mean.”

 

    “Well, I think it’s pretty obvious you didn’t have much of a childhood,” the blonde noted. “I brought a deck, so what do you say to a few rounds?”

    -----------

Stepping into the CCT’s elevator, she waited patiently for it to reach the top. Putting on one of her fake smiles, it quickly faltered under the increasing stress flowing through her veins. She sighed and patted the back of her head against the elevator car’s wall, and abruptly stood upright as it signalled having reached her intended floor, Ozpin’s office. The doors opened, and the first thing she saw was Ozpin sitting in his chair with his fingers laced together, obscuring his mouth, and Dr. Oobleck pouring himself a fresh mug of coffee. She took a deep breath and stepped into the spacious office.

 

“Good afternoon, Miss Schnee,” Ozpin said, gesturing to a seat on her side of the desk. After she sat down, he continued, “How are you feeling?”

 

“Better,” she said. “Much better. And yourself?”

 

“As well as I am able, and that is good to hear,” Ozpin said, placing his hands flat on the table. “However, I did not call you here to discuss pleasantries. I’m sure you understand that.”

 

“I do.”

 

“Good. Then I trust you are aware attempting to hide or pass off an illness can have disastrous effects for your party?”

 

She winced. “I am.”

 

“Then would you mind explaining _why_ you chose to hide it, knowing the potential consequences?” Ozpin asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“I...” she began, fishing for an answer she hoped would satisfy their curiosity. “I didn't want to let my team down. I didn't want to be seen by them as the rich girl who was in constant need of coddling, as I'm sure every one of my classmates believes I was at home.” She sighed in frustration. “I believed I could power through it, and I let them down anyway…”

 

“A good answer,” Ozpin began, pausing to drink some coffee, “but I suspect that isn't the real one. Or, it isn't the only one.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Weiss asked, suddenly becoming defensive.

 

“Doctor?”

 

“When I inspected the open sores on your upper back, they were festering. Upon cleaning them, I noticed a peculiar bony structure protruding from the muscle.”

 

Weiss desperately dug for any half-assed explanation, only managing to stammer, “I- It's-”

 

“Weiss,” Ozpin said softly, “I am fully aware of your medical history. Nothing discussed here will leave this room except under your own volition. Therefore, there is no need for you to lie or panic. We are not here to harm you, but to help, and we can only help if we understand.” Weiss took a few breaths to steady herself, then sat silently for a moment, staring at her boots. “Take your time. There is no need to rush. Coffee?”

 

“The doctors advised against it until I’m off of the antibiotics,” she replied. Sighing, she continued, “If you already know what I am, why ask?”

 

“I wanted to have an understanding of your current state of mind, rather than push you away by implying I intruded needlessly on your personal files. Do your friends know? Family?”

 

“Just Pyrrha,” she said. “Winter and Whitley are the only family that don’t know I’m… not normal.”

 

“What about at the Atlas Junior Combat School? Was there anyone there you trusted enough with your secret?”

 

“Just one,” she replied. “I’d rather not talk about her.”

 

“Understandable. Old wounds needn’t be picked at. Now, onto a more relevant subject. Yours is the first case I’ve ever heard of where one’s aura causes severed limbs to grow back. Granted, in your case, it takes months, and I am not inclined to believe there is anything unique about your aura that causes such a thing. Tell me, why hide when you are in the safety of Beacon’s halls?”

 

“Two reasons. First, I’m not sure how the people claiming to be my friends will take the truth being thrust on them. Pyrrha took it surprisingly well, but she’s also the most… open-minded of my current circle of friends. Second, my father made a deal with me. If I can keep this out of the public eye for my four years here, I will be able to retain my status as Heiress, and eventually run the company and finally be able to do some actual good, not just for faunus or humans, but Remnant as a whole. At least… that’s what I keep telling myself.”

 

“Very well, Miss Schnee, you have satisfied my questioning,” Ozpin said. “Beacon’s staff are always available if you ever need someone to talk to. You may return to your duties.”

 

“Thank you, Headmaster, Doctor,” Weiss said, smiling.  It felt good to finally talk about some of her problems. Ozpin and Oobleck watched in silence as she left them.

 

Waiting until a few seconds after the elevator doors closed, Ozpin turned to Oobleck and said, “Something is troubling you.”

 

Oobleck sighed. “When I cleaned her wounds, she begged me to stop hurting her, and, in her confused state, called me ‘Father’. I couldn’t imagine how horrible her home life must have been.”

 

“She will tell us when she is ready to discuss it. Or, she might not,” Ozpin said. “Trying to know everything about a person’s past too quickly will only push them out of your reach. Besides, it is not our place to pry, but her team’s. It is up to her friends, not us, to fix what is broken.”

\--------------

“You’re back!” Ruby exclaimed, running up to Weiss and wrapping her in a tight hug. Thankfully, it wasn’t one of Yang’s spine breakers.

 

“Yes, Ruby, I’m back,” Weiss said, becoming increasingly uncomfortable. “Can you please let me go so I can close the door?”

 

“Sorry!” Ruby said, releasing the heiress and stepping back a few feet. “I… I couldn’t wait for you to get out of that stuffy, stinky hospital and come home. I’m sorry.”

 

“Beacon… is home to you?” Weiss asked, perplexed.

 

“Well, I thought Beacon was our home?” Ruby asked. “You know… a home away from home?”

 

“Oh, right,” Weiss said. “I guess I’m still trying to get back into motion from… well, you know.”

 

“Either way, looks like Zwei considers Beacon home,” Yang said, motioning to the corgi napping on Weiss’ bed. “He’s been there almost every day. We were going to wash your sheets today, but… you’re back.”

 

“Honestly, I appreciate the sentiment of trying to make my life easier, considering I almost got myself killed, but I can handle it,” Weiss said. “It’s just bed sheets.”

 

“I know, but it’s not fair to have you do your chores right after you got out of the hospital. It’s so great to have you back!” Ruby exclaimed, grabbing both of Weiss’ shoulders and jostling her slightly, the heiress flinching.

 

“No, really,” Weiss began quietly, pulling out of Ruby’s grip, “I’m fine.”

 

“You’re shaking,” Blake said flatly.

 

“I’m… just a little cold,” Weiss lied, hugging herself and giving a fake smile. “I’ll go do my laundry.”

\-------------

Her first class back at Beacon after her conscious few days in the hospital happened to be combat class. Professor Goodwitch had readily informed her that while she was exempt from participating actively, she could keep her grade up by analyzing a match of her choice and writing a five-page report on it.

 

“Well done, Miss Valkyrie,” Goodwitch began, nodding to the short ginger, “I expect your team to perform well in the Vytal Tournament. Mr. Winchester, it would do you well to take note of when your opponent has superior reach and strength. Miss Valkyrie toyed with you that entire match as a result of your refusal to use a different strategy.” Weiss looked over to see Nora high-five Jaune… and nearly break his hand in the process. “Now, who would like to initiate our last match? Ah, Mr. Aero.” Weiss and the whole rest of the room looked over to find a faunus with what looked like talons for feet. At least she didn’t have _those_ uncomfortable-looking things. “Please pick your opponent.”

 

“I pick… her,” he said, pointing at Weiss.

 

“Miss Schnee is currently exempt from active participation in this class for medical reasons. I would suggest you find another opponent.”

 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

 

“Mr. Aero, I assure you, I am not the type to joke about the health of my students.”

 

“You, there! Schnee!” Aero exclaimed, becoming irate and unreasonable. Yang made a noticeable shift in her posture, as did Pyrrha. “Are you so weak you bought Professor Goodwitch’s favor after your botched mission so you wouldn’t have to lift your sword and get your dress dirty?”

 

“Hey! Why don’t you-” Yang started, only to be cut off by Blake wrapping her arm around the blondes neck and grabbing her other arm diagonally across the brawlers torso. The awkward bear hug served its purpose as Yang found herself struggling to stand upright. Weiss placed her hands flat on the blondes thigh and pushed her back down into her seat. The two made eye contact, and Yang conceded. Blake released her chokehold shortly after.

 

“Perhaps you would care to know that I nearly died of a bacterial infection?”

 

Aero started making mock-crying noises, clearly in mockery of her. “Oh, are your perma-periods so bad that you have to fake injury to-”

 

“Enough!” Goodwitch screamed. “Mr. Aero, you may be visiting from Vacuo for the Festival, but I retain the authority to discipline you for disrupting the class.”

 

“Also,” Coco began, removing her shades and making eye contact with Aero, “you're trying to go against direct orders from Professor Goodwitch, Dr. Oobleck, Headmaster Ozpin, and the top physician outside of Atlas, Dr. Midas. In what part of that apparently empty head of yours does that sound like a good idea?”

 

“And what could you possibly know, Miss Priss?”

 

“I don't know who you think you are, but my uncle's a highly-skilled professional, and even he doesn't argue with Goodwitch,” Yang said.

 

“It's because he's a little bitch! Like the Schnee!”

 

“Mr. Aero,” a different voice said in a low tone. The class turned to find Ozpin slowly walking down the stairs. “I would like to remind you such language is not tolerated in Beacon's classrooms, even less so when used against another student in such a manner. I will be sending a letter to your Headmaster and professors informing them of your unfounded prejudice against one of my students, and they will then determine if you are still suitable for your chosen career path. Glynda, perhaps we should let one of the students fight in Miss Schnee's stead?”

 

“Very well,” Goodwitch said, fixing her glasses. “If anyone would like to fight in Miss Schnee’s stead, please stand.” Almost immediately, Ruby, Blake, and Yang stood, followed closely by Team JNPR and Team CFVY, then Team SSSN. Cardin grunted quite audibly and gestured for his team to stand, a hushed conversation taking place.

 

“Sun?” Blake questioned. “I thought Weiss said she didn’t like you? Right to your face?”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Sun said, shrugging her off. “I have yet to meet someone who still didn’t like me by the end of the year! Right, Neptune?”

 

Neptune stifled some chuckles and rubbed his fingertips against his forehead. “If you still don’t like him by the time we leave, I’ll buy you dinner.”

 

“Oh, great, it’s gonna breed,” Aero groaned.

 

“So,” Sun began, “do we draw straws or take turns?” The standing students looked between each other, appearing completely lost.

 

“Any volunteers?” Ozpin asked.

 

“I’ll do it,” Velvet said, raising her hand.

 

“Ah, Miss Scarlatina!” Ozpin exclaimed. “How pleasantly unexpected. Mr. Aero, Miss Scarlatina, please report to the changing rooms behind the arena.” The two faunus did as ordered and emerged in combat attire moments later, Aero wearing layered metal armor at his shoulders and from the waist down, thick fur around the metal possibly only there to help protect against chafing, and donned a pair of scimitars. Velvet, however, went for her signature skin-tight combat outfit and brown box, though only her team knew what it was capable of.

 

“You're a faunus,” Aero began, drawing his swords, “how could you possibly defend those monsters?”

 

“I may have my grievances with the Schnee Dust Company, but Weiss is not responsible for any of them. Neither is she anything like her father,” Velvet replied, lowering into a balanced martial arts stance.

 

“Begin,” Ozpin said.

\-----------

 

“Don’t get me wrong,” Weiss began, looking back and forth at each of her friends as the three teams ate their lunch, “I do appreciate all of you coming to my defense, but was it really necessary?” Normally, she’d have rabbit with her meal, but given her company, she opted for quail instead.

 

“It’s not like he was gonna leave you alone,” Coco replied, pointing her fork at the heiress, a piece of swordfish stuck to the prongs. “Honestly, what’s his deal, anyway? If he has a problem, he should take it up with the big man, himself.”

 

“As if he’d ever get an audience with my father,” Weiss said disdainfully. “Although, it would be fun to watch.”

 

“Watching him rip your dad to shreds, or watching the SDC guards beat him to a pulp?” Yang asked, curious.

 

“Either,” Weiss replied simply. “By the way, Velvet, I’m impressed you were able to defeat him so easily with mixed martial arts, alone.”

 

“Oh, it was nothing,” she said. “His movements were too slow to be of any use to him, and the blades often inhibited his movements. Although, I will credit him with his knowledge of capoeira and karate. I swear, he almost took off my ears with those talons more than once, because I got cocky for an instant.”

 

“You should fight Yang!” Ruby blurted out.

 

“Maybe next time?” Yang asked, earning a nod from the rabbit.

 

“Are you guys going to do just hand-to-hand?” Pyrrha asked. “That would be beneficial for everyone, I think. Best to run it by Goodwitch first, though.”

 

“There’s an idea!” Yang cheered. “I’m up for it, though I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with Vel, after her showing today.”

 

“At least you acknowledge the existence of something slower than your brain,” Weiss snarked, earning mixed laughs and snorts from the table.

 

“Oh, very funny, Ice Queen,” Yang groaned, supporting her head with her fist.

 

“Her brain’s not slow,” Ruby chimed in suddenly. “She just gets bored.”

 

“Maybe she should be the one tutoring you in the middle of class instead of Weiss,” Blake deadpanned without looking up from her newest book.

 

Everyone stared collectively at Blake for a moment before Nora broke the silence. “At least read your lewd adventures novels in the privacy of the dorm!” She exclaimed, bringing her hand up and swatting the fork out of Jaune’s hand, the pasta-laden utensil sticking into Cardin’s hair. The much larger student turned around, fuming, then quickly sat back down upon seeing Nora start to get up from her seat.

 

“Hey, Blake, if it’s actually classy and not your regular smut, pass it off to me when you’re done,” Coco called to the cat faunus.

 

Blake peered over her book angrily. “It’s a book on the history of Vacuo.”

 

“Really?” A voice from behind them asked. Everyone looked behind Blake to find Sun reading over her shoulder. “Odd. I don’t remember a Sir Long-Dong Silver.”

 

Blake turned beet red before slamming the open book down on the lunch table so that everyone could read it to prove her point. “It’s not smut! I’m trying to catch up on schoolwork! I need to finish Port’s incomprehensibly vague assignment.”

 

“Okay, okay, jeez, I was just joking!” Sun exclaimed, holding his hands up. “No hard feelings?”

 

“Your pants say otherwise, monkey boy,” Coco snickered as Yang jumped to cover Ruby’s ears.

 

“Hey hey hey! Not around the baby!”

 

“Yang!” Ruby grumbled as she fought her sister’s iron grip on her head. “I’m not a baby!”

 

“You’re still doing that?” Weiss asked, baffled as she struggled to ignore the innuendo. “I thought that one was pretty easy.”

 

“Sweet mother of God, you kids are just a treasure trove for dirty jokes to happen, aren’t you?” Coco giggled as she walked away from the group. “I’m going to leave before I get myself in trouble.”

 

Teams RWBY and JNPR sat in silence for a moment as the processed what had just happened. “I’m not the only one that got what she meant, right?” Yang asked uncomfortably before everyone except Ruby acknowledged that they also got it.

 

“I hope you can forgive her,” Velvet said sheepishly. “Her sense of humor landed her in a bunch of trouble with Professor Goodwitch last year.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Yang said. “We give each other crap like that frequently.”

 

“Like when you kept making inappropriate jokes about my relationship with Neptune in Mountain Glenn?” Weiss growled, narrowing her glare at the blonde.

 

“No, I really thought it was morning sickness! You got a boy or girl in-”

 

“YANG!” Ruby and Blake shouted in unison, Weiss shaking her head and burying her face in her hands.

 

“For the last time, Yang; I, am, not, pregnant! He walked me to the door. That’s it. Nothing happened between us.”

 

“You sure are defensive about it, if it really was nothing,” Yang said in a mocking, sing-song voice as Weiss grew more and more red with further embarrassment and fury. “If you hit third base already, you can just tell us. We won’t judge.”

 

“You can ask Neptune, if you don’t believe me,” Weiss huffed. “Nothing... steamy, happened between us.”

 

“Sage and Scarlet actually asked him about that, and he denies ever going that far. Apparently, they didn’t even kiss.”

 

“Thank you, Sun,” Weiss said. “I dislike you just a little bit less now.”

 

“Aw, you’re so nice!” Sun exclaimed, giving a blinding smile.

 

“Don’t push your luck,” she deadpanned.

 

The two weeks leading up to the tournament seemed to drag. Classes seemed mostly normal, though she seemed to get a few extra glances from Oobleck and Goodwitch. Her team, at least, helped her with drills and eventually actual training under the supervision of Professor Goodwitch, and permission from Ozpin. Jaune hadn’t flirted with her in a while, which she found curious, though he did tell her how happy he and his team were to know she was already back in fighting condition when they passed each other in the hallway. Right before he ran to catch up with Pyrrha. Surprisingly, Ruby was the one to help her catch up with what she missed in class, after which, she and her partner would play with Zwei, much to Blake’s chagrin.

 

The final class before the day of the tournament, she was sitting idle, bored as Port rambled off some inane tale of bravery and heroics. Her scroll chimed suddenly, breaking the monotony of the lecture and capturing the interest of her teammates. Taking her scroll out of her pocket, she opened her messages to the most recent one, reading, _Please report to the nurse’ office for your final physical after class before entry into the Vytal Tournament._

 

“What is it?” Blake inquired.

 

“I’ll tell you when I’m back at the dorm,” Weiss said.

….

“Well…? Yang asked, expectantly as Weiss entered the dorm, holding the results of her physical.

 

“I passed,” she said, relieved. “We’re participating in the tournament!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt this was important to add: Due to the lack of Team CRMEN, I have instead opted for OCs that won't be staying with us too long. As such, that leads to unlikable characters like Steele Aero (creative name, amiright?) that are just there for fodder. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> -No_Count


	14. Round One

_ “Miss Schnee, perhaps don’t cut your wings off before the tournament,” _ Ozpin’s voice echoed through her mind as she and her team walked onto the octagonal arena’s central reservation. The result of taking his advice had been two bony nubs protruding from her shoulder blades, each the size of her thumb. In the heat of combat, so few would notice, so perhaps he had a point. She took a moment to analyze the opposing team. 

 

Directly across from her stood someone with black hair and amber eyes, along with a tanned complexion. Her eyes wandered lower, to his yellow sash, covering a dark blue vest, grey pants and black boots, then to his weapon; a staff with what she could make out to be small strips of metal running flush with the body, possibly concealed blades. Across from Ruby was a pink-haired boy sporting a rifle that looked like it could turn into some kind of bladed weapon.

 

“Hey, Ruby,” Weiss said, just loud enough for her teammate to hear. “What kind of weapon do you think that gun can turn into?” she asked, gesturing to said weapon.

 

Ruby hummed thoughtfully for a second, then turned to the pink-haired boy. “That rifle of yours turns into a sword, doesn’t it?”

 

He blinked, perplexed, then regained his composure. “You’re good. Maybe we can talk weapons when you lose?”

 

“Nadir,” the opposing team’s own blonde began, “don’t get cocky.” Weiss looked at the scoreboard for their names. Apparently, Arslan was talking, Nadir was getting wrung, she would most likely be fighting Bolin, and Blake was going to be taking on Reese. “That girl held her own against Roman Torchwick. And won.”

 

“Right,” Nadir said, cringing and scratching the back of his head.

 

“She does plenty of dumb things,” Weiss said. “Trust me. You just might get a lucky shot.”

 

“Rate of fire doesn’t matter if you can’t hit what you’re shooting at!” Ruby exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at Weiss. 

 

“Pay attention, you dunce,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes. She took the few remaining seconds they had before the match began to analyze the two remaining opponents; Reese, a green-haired girl in a purple hoodie with what looked like a hoverboard, and Arslan, the blonde who just chastised Nadir, who didn’t have any clearly visible weapons, though Weiss did notice her right hand was almost completely concealed by the single large sleeve of her yellow robe. The floor falling away brought her back into the world, one half being replaced by a wasteland of Fire Dust, the other a field of Ice Dust. She and Blake smirked at each other, knowing the arena itself was playing right into each of their hands. 

 

“Team Ruby of Beacon, versus Team Auburn of Haven!” Both parties shifted slightly as they waited for the signal to start. “Begin!” Port bellowed into the microphone.

 

Immediately, Nadir laid down fire on Ruby, the younger girl rapidly spinning her scythe to deflect the bullets. Weiss pushed Bolin away with an aura slash and Blake engaged Reese, her katana meeting the underside of a hoverboard. Yang and Arslan traded punches and made new craters in the ground. Bolin briefly left Weiss to help Nadir gang up on Ruby, prompting her to take flight to avoid getting hit, only for the staff wielder to be quickly corralled by the heiress again.

 

Nadir charged toward the rampaging brawlers, ending up too close when an uppercut from Yang sent him high into the air. Spotting Bolin only narrowly avoiding Weiss’ impressively fast attacks, Nadir righted himself as he crested and transformed his rifle into a sword, intending to take her down in one hit. He brought the blade back in preparation to bring down the guillotine on his unwitting opponent. No sooner had he started to bring the blade back down than a sudden shift in momentum wrenched his weapon from his hands.

 

“Put me down!” he shouted, before he was thrown and frozen to the underside of an icy spire, upside-down.

 

“Just hang out there for a bit,” Ruby said, having landed on the ground, weapon slung over her shoulders as a rifle. She extended her weapon into a scythe and went to rejoin the fray.

 

“Don’t you mean, ‘ _ Yang out’ _ ?” Yang called. She was rewarded with a hard punch to the cheek, which sent her tumbling across the fire pit and onto the ice field.

 

“It’s only ‘Yanging out’ if  _ you  _ put him up there, you boob!” Weiss chided from somewhere else in the arena.

 

“The joke was far more painful, I promise,” Arslan said as she stepped into the new environment. “Maybe you should cool off.”

 

“Oh, so  _ you’ve _ got jokes, now?” Yang groaned, rubbing her chin with her knuckle.

 

Bolin broke combat and ran after his stuck teammate, only for Ruby to cut him off with a downward swing. He blocked the initial hit, but somehow wasn’t expecting a large-caliber bullet to the face, which sent him sprawling across the ice, Weiss using some Wind Dust to help him on his way.

 

Figuring Weiss wouldn’t need further assistance for the time being, Ruby took flight and spectated on a spire, waving at a still-stuck Nadir, who, surprisingly, waved back. Turning her attention back to the field, she watched Blake mercilessly kick Reese into the outer forcefield, the wild-haired skater falling to the ground in a crumpled heap.

 

“Ooh! Double whammy!” Port exclaimed as Yang and Arslan started grappling.. “Reese is out by both ring-out and aura level!”

 

“She should have worn a helmet,” Oobleck remarked.

 

She watched the pushing match between Yang and Arslan, her sister blindly pushing the opposing team’s brawler where Nadir was held captive. She blinked, and almost missed Blake infuse a clone with Fire Dust, which almost immediately exploded behind Arslan, blowing both blondes to the ground and dropping Arslan’s aura significantly.

 

Bolin had managed to close the distance enough that he locked his staff with Myrtenaster. Weiss buckled as her opponent kneed her in the stomach, then was pushed away. A sudden, dull pain on her chin, and she was looking at the sky before feeling a sharp pain in her shoulder blades as her back impacted the ice. Before she could process what had happened, she was already crying out in pain. Gathering her bearings, she first realized her wing stubs were probably broken or sprained, and Bolin was now charging her. She raised Myrtenaster in an attempt to block, and felt a red flash impact the side of her opponent’s head, sending him flying across the arena. The red leader glanced at Weiss, then pursued her victim while Yang and Arslan’s brawl was slowly making its way over to her. Trying to stand, she was surprised when someone picked her up and effortlessly whisked her to a more peaceful location.

 

“Sounded like you took quite a hit,” Blake said, setting her on the ground, one hand supporting her back, uncomfortably close to her clipped wings.

 

“I’m fine,” Weiss said, jerking away from Blake and getting to her feet. “He just overpowered me is all.”

 

“Is your back still sore?”

 

“It’s  _ fine _ . What are the sisters up to?” Weiss asked, spotting Yang trading blows with Arslan in a slow slug-of-war where neither appeared to be gaining any ground, while Ruby would have Bolin on the ropes if he weren’t so quick on his feet. She looked at Blake, and the other faunus looked at her.

 

“Wanna trade?” Blake asked, cringing.

 

Yang matched Arslan, blow for blow, and rolled clear when her opponent nearly married her head with the ice pillar she was backed up against. She backed up a few steps as Arslan lunged forward, firing some falling debris into Yang’s face, which felt unusually warm and soft for ice, despite the fact it sent her flying backward several yards.

 

“Ouch!” Port shouted. “It’s one thing to get decked. It’s another to get decked while falling… and it’s another thing entirely to get decked while falling  _ by _ your own teammate! Nadir is out by aura level!”

 

“Good thing he’s got plenty of ice around,” Oobleck said. “Replay!”

 

Weiss and Blake looked at the screen to see an instant replay of Nadir being unfortunate enough to fall right in front of Arslan’s fist, sending him sailing into Yang right before he and the blonde went flying off-screen. The pair looked at each other and chuckled before nodding and leaping back into the fight.

 

“Shuffle!” Weiss and Blake shouted in unison, the cat landing in place of Ruby and rapidly slicing at Bolin, the staff wielder managing to stave off her offense. Gathering himself, he brought his weapon around for a heavy blow, only for Blake to disappear on contact, a fiery blonde filling his vision in her place.

 

Weiss and Ruby practically danced around their slower opponent, Ruby taking pot shots while Weiss spun clear of one punch after another, summoning glyphs to launch ice shards at Arslan. One impacted her sleeved hand, nailing her to an ice pillar. Arslan jerked her hand to try and break free, then resorted to pulling with her free hand, to no avail.

 

“Burning Ice Flower!” Ruby ordered. The red leader propped up her rifle on the blade, locking sights on her trapped opponent as Weiss’ glyphs filled her vision. She fired, the large explosion rocking the arena. “Did we do it?” Ruby asked, waving smoke and mist from her face. The fog cleared, and Arslan stood in a daze. She staggered forward, then dropped to the icy floor, face first. The buzzer sounded, indicating the match’s end.

 

“And that’s the match!” Port exclaimed. “Team Ruby is victorious!”

 

“We… did it?” Weiss asked.

 

“We did it!” Ruby shouted, throwing her arms into the air. Suddenly calming down and gesturing to Arslan, she asked, “Is she going to be okay?”

\-----------

“Congratulations,” Arslan said as her team followed her up to RWBY outside of the changing rooms. 

 

“Thanks,” Yang replied through a smile. “I hope there are no hard feeling between our teams?”

 

“Of course not,” Bolin chimed in. “Just our pride.”

 

“We’d love to fight you again sometime,” Reese said enthusiastically. “Have any of you ever tried hoverboarding or anything? I feel like Blake would be particularly good at it.”

 

Ruby giggled as Blake’s bow twitched at the mention of her name. “I have tried it, actually. While it is fun, it just doesn’t suit me or my fighting style.”

 

“That’s understandable. So,” Arslan said, steering the conversation back to her original goal, “have you decided who you’ll be sending to the doubles round?”

 

Team RWBY shared looks of mild concern and indecision amongst themselves before turning back to their former opponents. “Not really,” Ruby replied, scratching her head as her wings reared up slightly. “We’ve been discussing the pros and cons of who to send and why since yesterday and we’re still struggling.”

 

“Yang is our certain pick,” Blake interrupted. “Ruby has a great understanding of her fighting style since they’re siblings. Living in the same house allowed them to train as they grew up together.”

 

“Blake is Yang’s partner,” Weiss interjected, “and their semblances and fighting styles naturally compliment each other, so Blake is definitely a potential candidate for the doubles.” Blake blushed and shared a small smile with Weiss at the subtle compliment.

 

Arslan hummed and crossed an arm over her stomach, before placing the knuckle of her other hand on her chin. “Would you like our opinion on the matter?”

 

“Sure. Can’t hurt to have another perspective,” Yang said readily as each of her teammates motioned their agreement.

 

Arslan lowered her arms back to her sides as she looked to each of them before settling back on Weiss. “Personally, I would send Yang and Weiss to the doubles.”

 

“Why me?” Weiss asked confused. “We don’t exactly work well together.”

 

“That’s just it. You don’t have to.” RWBY stared back at ABRN, her own team looking equally confused as they waited for Arslan to elaborate. “Having synergy in a fight is certainly important, but if you’re facing off against someone who’s in another league compared to yourself, you can’t exactly afford to babysit your partner or wait for that combo you rely so heavily on. From what we’ve seen, your semblance and proficiency with Dust allows you to be extremely versatile on the battlefield. That hairline shift from offense to defense, I feel, is your most valuable trait.”

 

“She’s right, actually,” Blake said, conceding the point. “Even though you can’t take a hit, you’ve got a number of ways to deflect or dodge one aimed at yourself or others.”

 

“Don’t forget the variable range she can attack from,” Bolin said. “If I’m being honest, that’s what did me in since I’m mostly a close combat fighter.”

 

“True,” Ruby supplied. “I don’t think we would have been able to hold our own against you if we stayed with the up-close strategy, even in pairs.” Ruby saw Weiss nod her agreement out of the corner of her eye.

 

“We’ll certainly consider your advice,” Blake said as she extended her hand to shake, a warm smile on her face as both teams followed suit.

 

“May the best team win,” Arslan replied. “We’re going to get some lunch and catch some more fights. We may be out of the tournament, but we can still learn something,” she said as she and her team turned and began walking away. RWBY turned away from the stadium and weaved their way through the crowds for a few minutes, emotions still riding high from their first victory.

 

“Now that the subject has been brought up...is anyone else starving?” Ruby groaned, hunched over and clutching her stomach.

 

“I may have worked up an appetite,” Blake said, face flushing and bow twitching as she brought her hands down on her stomach after a rather loud growl.

 

“Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here,” Weiss sarcastically dismayed. “Oh, wait.”

 

“It’s okay, Weiss,” Ruby said. “I forget about the fairgrounds, too.”

 

“I was being facetious!”

 

Ruby threw her hands up in a tizzy and shouted, “Well, if you were hungry, why didn’t you say so!?”

 

“Come on!” Yang beckoned. “I know just the place.” No sooner had she started following her teammates than her scroll started ringing. Taking it out of her pocket, she saw it was from her father. Scowling, she rolled her eyes and locked the device before putting it back and catching up with her friends.

 

“Well, would you look at that,” Blake heard an annoyingly familiar voice say. “Looks like lunch is on Ruby today, boys.” Turning around, she saw Cardin going through Ruby’s wallet. 

 

Before she could say anything, another familiar male voice could be heard much more clearly, and garnered the attention of her entire team. “You know, the  _ right _ thing to do would be to give your classmate her wallet back!” Everyone in earshot turned to see Team SSSN approaching, lead by none other than Velvet. The monkey faunus’ tail twitched in irritation as Cardin stared them down.

 

“Finder’s, keeper’s, chump,” Cardin growled as he squared up to Sun.

 

“You know Cardin, some of us don’t have a problem with being kicked out of the tournament if it means taking your team with us,” Coco said as the crowd of people parted for her. “And while I’d hate to dwindle Vale’s potential at claiming overall victory, you’re not someone most of us are proud of having represent our kingdom.” 

 

Cardin glared at her, his gaze shifting between her and Sun, before turning to Team RWBY and realizing they were horrendously outnumbered. “Whatever,” he grumbled as he threw Ruby’s wallet her way. “Let’s get out of here,” he said to his team, the onlookers making way. Even if they wanted to stand up for what was right, most of them were still civilians and weren’t able to do much, even against a Huntsman in training.

 

The various teams watched them go before coming together as a mass. “Thanks everyone,” Blake said. “I don’t know how well that would have went over if it was just us.”

 

“It was nothing,” Sun said, flashing one of his blinding smiles as he laced his fingers behind his head. 

 

“We wouldn’t have even known it was happening if Velvet didn’t bring it to our attention,” Sage admitted. 

 

“Ruby, make sure you still have everything,” Weiss chided as she watched her teammate shove her wallet back into her pocket.

 

“I did,” the bird faunus grumbled in response, her wings flaring slightly before drooping with exasperation. “Girl pockets are the worst.”

 

“Trust me, we know the feeling,” Velvet said as she gestured to Coco and herself. “Fox and Yatsu have found my wallet more than once, which is why I started putting it in a satchel with my scroll.”

 

“That’s not a half-bad idea,” Yang muttered. “Too bad  _ someone _ hasn’t been suggesting that for  _ years _ ,” she continued as she crossed her arms. Ruby crossed her arms and looked the other way, but could still feel her sister’s stare boring into the back of her head. “It’s why I go shopping in the Men’s section for my pants.”

 

“You know they do have the ‘Boyfriend Fit’ in the ladies section now, right?” Coco asked as she cocked an eyebrow.

 

“No, actually.”

 

“They’re really comfortable if you can find the right fit,” Blake replied. “I think you’ll like them.”

 

“Why do you need the boyfriend fit when you can just wear Sun’s?” Neptune butted in. Sun and Blake turned equal shades of red as they both turned to glare at him. “What?”

 

“Come on, Vel,” Coco said as she turned and began to strut away. “I don’t wanna get in the middle of the love birds.”

Blake and Sun practically ran in opposite directions to keep their teams from bouncing jokes off of each other. “You okay, Blakey? I’ve never seen you this mad,” Yang said as she nearly jogged to catch up with her partner.

 

“I’m not mad, Yang. I just really don’t want to hear it from you three right now,” Blake said, maintaining her quick pace.

 

“Three? Please. I was at least going to wait until you kiss him,” Weiss said, mildly annoyed that she was grouped with Yang.

 

“Ew! Gross! Can we just go back to talking about food, please?” Ruby asked as her team finally stopped charging aimlessly through the people meandering around the fairgrounds.

 

“You mean like  _ sausages _ ?” Yang laughed.

 

“Okay, I have to ask. Are you ever  _ not  _ a pain in the ass?” Weiss growled.

 

“Okay, okay. Stop teasing Blake. I got the message,” the blonde mumbled dejectedly as she put her hands in her pockets.

 

“No. I mean stop being inappropriate. At the bare minimum, stop doing so when we’re in a public setting and surrounded by people. That can give Vale a really bad representation if the wrong people overhear,” Weiss chided, jabbing her finger into Yang’s arm.

 

“... You don’t realize the  _ pun-tential  _ of what you just said, do you?”

 

“You’re just determined to not take me seriously, aren’t you…” Weiss said under her breath as her eye twitched in irritation.

 

“No, I get where you’re coming from, Weiss,” Yang said as the playful, joking tone dropped from her voice. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t appropriate and I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Blake.”

 

The cat faunus turned to look at her partner. “You didn’t hurt my feelings. I just seems like it’s a little soon to be cracking jokes about any of our relationships right now. I like Sun, but there’s a good chance we’ll find other people that we mesh better with. I would appreciate it if you’d at least hold off on the jokes for a little while. I would go so far as to say Weiss would agree with me.”

 

“Weiss also has a point about us representing Vale,” Ruby said, acknowledging Weiss’ earlier point. “If Goodwitch were walking by and heard that, we’d probably have to sit through a lecture, or even a class about how to act appropriately in public.’

Weiss watched as Yang became more and more defeated by her own team. “We’re not asking you to stop making jokes, Yang. That’s just something that’s part of your identity at this point,” Weiss sighed. “We’re just asking that you choose more child-friendly ones when we’re out in public, and maybe don’t tease us so relentlessly when we’ve just started dating people.”

 

“Honestly, I think you’ve dated more people than both of them combined, Yang,” Ruby said, placing a hand on her hip. “Did you ever think that maybe they’re easily embarrassed by what you say?”

 

Yang blinked as she processed Weiss’ request with the rest of her team. Truthfully, they weren’t asking a lot. “I guess not… I think I can do that. So,” the blonde said, obviously uncomfortable after the confrontation with her team, “are we still getting lunch?”

 

“I’m curious about that place you know,” Weiss said, attempting to be encouraging.

 

“Well,” Yang said as she turned slightly to face a stand, “we don’t have to go far.” The rest of her team turned as well only to find themselves standing in front of ‘A Simple Wok’. “It’s so weird how we ended up right where we were heading anyway. Isn’t it…  _ fishy _ ?” the blonde said as she looked over her shoulder to her partner, eyebrows dancing suggestively.

 

“Are you kidding me right now?”

 

“No, I’m not  _ kitten  _ you right  _ meow _ . Don’t tell me you’re going to put me on ice for that one,” Yang pouted.

 

“We did just ask her to keep them child appropriate in public  _ and _ away from our relationships for the time being,” Weiss grumbled, “so it appears she’s acquitting to that request.”

 

“We gotta let her make jokes about something,” Ruby sighed.

 

“True…” Blake said in a low tone, before perking up. “I’m glad to see that our feelings didn’t  _ fly _ over her head,” the cat faunus said smugly as she peeked at Ruby out of the corner of her eye.

 

“Really...?” Weiss and Ruby groaned simultaneously as Yang laughed. Together, they walked up to the counter and took their seats, noting that it appeared to be the same old shopkeeper that ran a Dust shop in Vale that Weiss frequented until the White Fang tore it apart.

 

“I’ll have a bowl of The Regular, please,” Yang said. It seemed like only a second before a bowl heaping with pasta was slid on the counter in front of her, the brawler staring it down as if the food had challenged her.

 

Ruby’s eyes bulged excitedly upon seeing Yang’s dish. “Ooooo~. I’ll take the same.” Weiss stared as the happenings repeated themselves, Ruby clasping her hands together as her wings flared in anticipation. She swore, if her partner’s eyes got any bigger, they’d fall out of her head. The only noteworthy difference between the sisters’ dishes were that he’d dusted sesame seeds on top of Ruby’s.

 

Weiss turned back to the old man uncertainly. “Do you have anything with a low salt-- uh!” She was cut off as a bowl of what appeared to be the same order as Yang was slid in front of her. “Umm, okay,” she muttered, eyeing the food warily before side-eyeing Blake. However, the cat faunus didn’t say anything when it came to her order. She and the old man exchanged a nod before he disappeared into the back in a flash. Pans hissed and metal banged on metal in rapid succession before he returned in an equally quick fashion with a bowl of pasta topped with tuna. Clearly she and Yang regularly visited this vendor and could only assume that this was what Yang was referring to with her ‘fishy’ pun. Swallowing her urge to comment on the way Blake stared at her dish, Weiss turned back to the shopkeep and offered her card.

 

“Aww, Weiss! What’s the occasion?” Yang asked, pleasantly surprised by the heiress’ uncommon generosity. 

 

“Think of it as a small thank you for considering me for the doubles round and reeling in your humor a little bit,” she said as the shopkeep took her card. “I also heard it was National Pasta Day, so I figured I should treat you noodles somehow.”

 

“Did- did Weiss just make a pun?” Yang asked as the three of them stared at her wide-eyed until her card was thrown back to them, the point sticking in the counter like a throwing star. The old man cleared his throat and glared, pointing to the register as it flashed the word ‘DECLINED’ in bright red.

 

“What?” Weiss asked, eyebrow cocked as she placed her hands on the counter and leaned forward. “How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance,” she murmured as she settled back down into her seat, her team looking on in mild dismay.

Blake drummed her fingers on the counter, her eyes sweeping from side to side before trying to inconspicuously grab the bowl and slide it away from the counter. The shopkeep however, snatched the bowl away and disappeared to the back with it. “Nooo…” the cat faunus cried dramatically as she laid across the counter with her arms stretched out in front of her.

 

“Maybe I could help?” a familiar female voice asked. All four members of RWBY looked to the left to see JNPR approaching, with Nora opting to dance her way to them as opposed to just walking like a normal person.

 

“Pyrrha!” Ruby cried excitedly as she threw her arms in the air. Blake lifted herself off the counter at the arrival of more familiar faces.

 

“Aw, you don’t have to,” Yang said waving her off. After all, they wouldn’t have come here if they couldn’t pay for themselves.

 

“BUT SHE COULD!” Blake pressured as she leaned across Weiss, as if that somehow pushed her point more.

 

“Well,” Pyrrha replied with a chuckle, “I think you all earned it after that battle.”

 

“Mind if we join you?” Jaune asked, hopefully enthusiastic. 

...

Weiss regretted forcing herself to eat all of her pasta, just so Pyrrha’s kindness wouldn’t go to waste. She clutched her stomach, trying to not focus on anything while Pyrrha pushed her bowl away and Jaune groaned in pain.

 

“Are you sure it’s wise to have eaten before a fight?” Ren asked.

 

“Of course!” Pyrrha exclaimed as the shopkeep picked up their dishes. “It will give us energy.” A monstrous burp escaped someone, Weiss opening her eyes to find everyone else looking at Nora, who was covering her mouth and smiling.

 

“If I barf, I’m blaming you,” Jaune grumbled, audibly slumping onto the counter. Somehow, he was having a harder time of it, despite having at least fifty pounds on her.

 

“Ooh! Aim it at the enemy!”

 

“Nora,” Ren began, “that’s disgusting. But, if you do feel the urge...”

 

“Got it,” Jaune groaned.

 

“Well, we should be off,” Pyrrha said, standing.

 

“So, you think you guys are ready?” Ruby asked, excited, her wings rearing up slightly.

 

“Of course!” Nora exclaimed. “We’ve got a world-renowned fighter on our team, what’s basically a ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune- We’ve trained all year, our weapons are  _ awesome _ , Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and, uh, Jaune!”

 

“Are you gonna take that?” Ren asked.

 

“She’s not wrong,” Jaune groaned, not bothering to remove his face from his arm.

 

“I’m kidding! He knows I’m kidding! Don’t be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, then it’s just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we’re failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won’t be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we’ll be officially renamed Team LOSE-iper!” Nora dismayed before dissolving into a fit of manic laughter, then pathetic sobbing as she slammed her head into the counter.

 

_ Oh, Nora… If only you knew how I feel _ , Weiss thought, the pain in her stomach finally subsiding enough so she could pay attention to her friends. Jaune still looked like he was about to die.

 

“So… we’re feeling pretty confident,” Ren said.

 

“Don’t fret,” Pyrrha said. “If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and not, well, murderers.”

 

“Yeah, don’t sweat it!” Yang exclaimed. “We’ve all faced way worse before.”

 

“Let’s see: Grimm hordes, violent extremists,” Blake began, then turned to Ruby, “...a destructive sociopath.”

 

“And that’s all while we were still in training!” Ruby exclaimed. “Oh, imagine what it will be like when we graduate!”

 

“Maybe then I’ll be able to pay for a meal,” Weiss lamented, hanging her head in shame.

 

“Would Team Juniper please report to the battleground immediately,” Port said over the PA system.

 

“Yes! Like they were scheduled to  _ several minutes ago _ ,” Oobleck added.

 

“Well,” Pyrrha began, “it looks like this is it.”

 

“Go get ‘em!” Ruby shouted as Team JNPR walked away, Jaune barely keeping himself upright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hard to believe that entire fight started with me wanting to have Nadir hanging from an ice spire Luke Skywalker style, which evolved into Ruby picking up Nadir like a Pterodactyl from Jurassic Park. And then the rest of the fight happened. We do hope you enjoyed this chapter. ~No_Count


	15. Popcorn, Punchlines, and the Personals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so late. Work has been demanding more hours recently and I struggled to find a way to keep the fights canon without totally rehashing the fustercluck that is the tournament. I hope you enjoy it.  
> ~No_Count

Weiss followed her team to their seats in the colosseum, Yang having bought a huge tub of popcorn, for some reason.

 

“What is that?” Weiss asked, incredulous.

 

“Uh, popcorn?”

 

“I know that,” she snapped. “We  _ just _ ate! How are you still hungry?”

 

“Weiss, I normally eat six meals a day,” Yang said. “You, on the other hand, hardly eat at all.”

 

“Yang, just because we only eat half as much as you, doesn’t mean we don’t get full,” Ruby said, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at her sister.

 

“At least we know where she stores all the extras,” Weiss snarked, managing some giggles out of Ruby and Blake.

 

“Hey!” Yang exclaimed as they took their seats, Yang and Blake on the ends, Ruby next to her sister, and Weiss between Blake and Ruby. The instant Weiss’ shoulder blades rested against the soft cushion, she gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply, her back arching reflexively as her arms assumed a defensive posture.

 

“Weiss?” Blake asked. Weiss looked at her teammate through watery eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?

 

“You look like a praying mantis,” Ruby said, waving her arms about in mock-karate movements.

 

“I’m, fine,” Weiss said, glaring at her teammates.

 

“You know, I think constantly asking if she’s okay is really starting to  _ bug _ her,” Yang said, stuffing a fistful of popcorn into her mouth.

 

“Sorry, Weiss,” Ruby said. “It’s just, well… you already know…”

 

“Just stop bringing it up,” Weiss said.

 

“We can do that,” Yang said.

 

Weiss felt a tap on her shoulder, and noticed Blake leaning close to her. “I heard you hiss when you sat down,” she whispered. “I’m pretty sure you’re lying, but there’s no need to snap at us. We’re just worried about you.”

 

“I’m sorry. I’m just not used to people actually being concerned about my well-being.” Weiss pursed her lips. That wasn’t supposed to be said out loud.

 

“Atlas sounds like a nightmare. How did you end up being a semi-normal person with some scraps of humanity?” Ruby asked.

 

“Well, I had Winter and Klein growing up--”

 

“WOOT! Go Team Juniper!” Yang shouted, completely oblivious to her team’s completely depressing conversation. Either that, or she just wanted to lighten the mood.

 

“Team Juniper of Beacon, versus Team Bronze of Shade!” Port exclaimed, the biome roulette icons spinning up. 

 

Weiss looked at the scoreboard for their names, then took a second to analyze her friends’ opposition. Brawnz wore a white-purple gradient shirt and purple scarf, with black pants, while his knees were covered by bronze plates. He brandished metal claws, a weapon, she noted, similar to an unaging anti-hero with a drinking problem from a Wonder movie the team watched one night;  _ Badger _ , it probably was. Next in line was May, standing across from Jaune, rifle pointed at the ground. She wore a red-and-white striped jacket, blue tracksuit pants, a scarf, and a beanie that was covering one eye; a good idea for long-distance marksmanship, not so great for tussling with a brawler like Jaune. Across from Nora stood Roy, sporting a green vest buckled only on one shoulder over a black t-shirt, baggy white pants rolled up to his knees. He had his arms crossed, though it was hard to tell if it was defensive, as his weapon of choice appeared to be bronze-colored rotary saw blades. Lastly, there was Nolan, wearing what appeared to be an open jeans jacket over an open black hoodie with rolled up sleeves, a white long-sleeved shirt underneath that, also with the sleeves rolled up, and pink glasses hanging from his collar. Surely  _ those _ couldn’t stay on for the whole fight? He also wore ripped burgundy jeans and his weapon of choice was… a cattle prod. Weiss felt her eye twitch. Not only was his outfit completely hideous, overcomplicated, and impractical, his weapon would have had to have  _ something _ good snuck into it to make it worth the time of day. The chiming  of the biome roulette boards brought her attention away from the eyesore staring down Ren. A forest biome rose up from the arena floor, a good option for a sniper like Ruby or May to hide in and take pot shots. The second, a mountain biome, rose up from the floor and towered over the battlefield, a dry thunderstorm happening at the peak.

 

“3… 2… 1…,” Port said over the loudspeakers as Ruby voiced her excitement, “...Begin!”

 

The teams charged one another, May making a break for the trees while the rest of her team kept JNPR occupied. Brawnz swung almost wildly at Pyrrha, the warrior at one point blocking a punch with the edge of her xiphos before bashing him with her shield. Surprisingly, he was smart enough to get out of the way before she brought her sword around. Turning to Nolan, Nora swung at his head, the boy ducking clear almost effortlessly. No sooner had Ren charged in to help than a pink line flashed over his shoulder, shattering a boulder behind him. Weiss looked at where the shot had come from, effortlessly spotting the poorly-camouflaged sniper JNPR had somehow failed to notice before Jaune ordered a retreat, his team taking cover behind the boulders, May laying down suppressing fire while the rest of her team charged.

 

“Pfft,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes. “I could easily counter that sniper…”

 

“Could you?” Ruby asked, skeptical.

 

“She does have the best eyesight on the team,” Blake said.

 

“The only thing I would actually fix about Juniper’s tactics is- ohmygosh Ren!” Ruby exclaimed, Weiss and Blake looking back in time to see Ren getting shocked by Nolan’s cattle prod and falling onto his back in a daze. Nora charged him, swinging her hammer and missing, and getting shocked herself, yet she seemed to be… enjoying it?

 

“Oh, it looks like Nora Valkyrie, one of my favorite students, is charging up to use her semblance!” Port said.

 

“Yes!” Oobleck agreed. “Miss Valkyrie’s semblance lets her produce, as well as channel electrical energy straight to her muscles. This allows her to jump explosively into the air, wield her mighty hammer, or in this case, absorb Nolan’s attack and send the young man flying.”

 

Nora flexed dramatically, then charged forward, slamming into Nolan with the top of her hammer’s head and sending him clear through a boulder. When Jaune pointed to the mountain, the ginger gave him a salute and started bounding her way up the face.

 

“That looked like it hurt,” Yang said, before stuffing her face with more popcorn. Jaune blocked both of Roy’s saws with his shield, the second hitting his shield hard enough to bash the protective device into the blond’s face.

 

“Ooh,” the team said in unison, grimacing as Roy collected his saws and went to fight Pyrrha.

 

“Yeah, go get ‘em, Jaune!” Ruby exclaimed as Jaune shook his head clear and went to rejoin the fray.

 

“Well, he’s certainly improved,” Weiss said, looking at the sisters.

 

“Yeah, but he ain’t got nothin’ on Pyrrha!” Yang exclaimed. Weiss turned her attention back to the battlefield, Pyrrha deftly deflecting Roy’s blades and blocking Brawnz’ punches, before landing on her hands and pushing off, kicking Brawnz in the face. Safe to say nobody in the stadium had anything on Pyrrha.

 

“So, you were saying, Ruby?” Weiss asked, watching Ren charge May and encounter Nolan. The ninja took some hits of his own before catching Nolan’s cattle prod, kicking him on either side, and using Nolan’s own weapon to hold him hostage and use him as a meat shield. “That’s not a bad idea, actually,” she muttered, raising an eyebrow.

 

“About what?” Ruby asked.

 

“How to fix Juniper’s tactics,” Weiss said as Jaune launched Pyrrha into May’s line of fire, her shield absorbing the bullet meant for Nora and sending her flying back toward the mountain.

 

“Well, from what I’m seeing, they need to communicate a little more, and a little more clearly, because Jaune clearly didn’t know about Nora’s semblance if he didn’t send her to the mountain before Dr. Oobleck said something,” Ruby said, she and Weiss turning their attention to the mountain’s peak, where Nora had her hammer raised to absorb the next lightning bolt. When she had, she collapsed her hammer into a grenade launcher and opened the front, launching a full volley of pink explosives in May’s general direction, obliterating a sizable portion of the forest biome.

 

“She... escaped?” Weiss questioned as she watched the sniper cough her lungs out in a tree near Nora’s new crater. Said hammer-wielding grenadier had once more extended her launcher back into a hammer and launched herself off the mountain, a pink aura forming around Magnhild’s head. She smashed the ground right in front of three of Team BRNZ’ members, sending them flying backward toward the forest with a sizable chunk of their aura taken out of them, May finally having enough of the smoke and jumping down to join them. “Do me a favor, and remind me to never make Nora angry.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take the hit for ya!” Yang exclaimed happily. “Hey, what are they doing?”

 

“Talking,” Weiss groaned, pinching her eyebrows.

 

“What are they talking about?” Ruby asked.

 

“I don’t know,” Weiss sighed. “They’re just standing there, talking!” She paused, then looked at Ruby and gave a sly smile. “Looks like you got your wish.”

 

“This… isn’t what I meant…”

 

“Apparently, Jaune ordered a Team Attack between Ren and Nora called, I kid you not, ‘Flower Power’,” Blake said.

 

“Flower Power!?” the rest of the cat’s team exclaimed in unison, looking at her to make sure they weren’t mishearing her.

 

“Apparently, Ren brings the flower while Nora brings the power… whatever that’s supposed to mean. And Nora thinks he meant ‘flour’, like in baking,” Blake groaned. “Apparently, it’s their symbols.”

 

“If I were to guess, I’d say they never actually practiced their Team Attacks,” Weiss said.

 

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Ruby snarked.

 

“Apparently, Pyrrha wants to know what she and Jaune are-” Blake was cut off by Ruby squealing with joy. “...And apparently, they are called ‘Arkos’, the mashing together of their names. It’s both cute and kind of sad.”

 

“Jaune say anything about what kind of Team Attack Arkos is?” Ruby asked, quizzical. Weiss noticed Team BRNZ looking at each other in confusion while Team JNPR was having their meeting.

 

“Best I can gather? Shield wall,” Blake said. “Kind of hard to do with only two small shields, though. And now Brawnz is trying to remind them they’re in the middle of a fight.”

 

“Not the best idea when you’re on the back foot,” Weiss said as she watched Jaune and Brawnz go back and forth, before Pyrrha got his attention and said something that made Jaune rest his forehead against the flat of his sword.

 

“They’re in trouble,” Blake said as Nora launched herself over her team and in front of her opponents. Bringing her hammer around, a solid hit sent the entirety of Team BRNZ clear of the field and into the energy barrier.

 

“And with that, Team Juniper wins by knockout. Literally,” Port said. “Can someone go make sure they’re okay?”

 

“Yeah!” Yang shouted, jumping to her feet and tossing her popcorn into Ruby’s lap, some of the contents falling down into Weiss’ dress.

 

“Yang!” Weiss shouted angrily. “Oh, this is just great!” She shot to her feet and started storming off toward the shuttle.

 

“Where are you going?” Blake inquired.

 

“I’m going to the dorm to get this popcorn out of my dress!” Weiss exclaimed, fuming.

\------------

No sooner had Pyrrha left the armory than her scroll chimed, drawing both her attention, and her team’s. Unlocking the device, she found a message from Weiss.

 

“What’s up, Pyrrha?” Jaune asked, appearing beside her.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she replied. “I just need to go to the dorm for something. I’ll meet you guys back in the Colosseum in time for the next match. I promise!”

 

“Well, we’ll see you there,” Ren said, walking with Nora toward a waiting shuttle.

 

“We’ll save you a seat,” Jaune said, before rushing off to join them. 

 

Pyrrha smiled and waved them off, frowning when they were out of sight. She brought up her scroll again to read Weiss’ message more thoroughly.  _ ‘I need you to meet me at the dorm. It’s important. And delete this message when you get here!’ _

 

A ten minute walk to the dorm complex later, Pyrrha opted for taking the elevator to the fourth floor, rather than the stairs. Approaching Team RWBY’s dorm, she knocked.

 

“Just a moment!” Weiss called through the door. It clicked open about a minute later, the heiress standing across the threshold, wearing her typical combat attire. “Oh, hey, Pyrrha. You’re… a bit earlier than I expected.”

 

“You said it was important,” she said, entering when Weiss waved her inside, the door clicking shut behind her. She turned her attention to the open closet door. “Why is there popcorn on the closet floor?”

 

“When you won, Yang threw her tub into Ruby’s lap, splashing me with it. Some wound up going too far down my dress to remove… in a dignified manner,” she said. “But, yes, it is important, and that incident gave me an actual reason to come up here.” She turned her back to Pyrrha and set to work on slowly removing her bolero. “You’re the only one here I can actually trust, Pyrrha, so I need to know if I broke something after I took that hit from Bolin.”

 

“Try not to move too much,” Pyrrha said, hunching over to get a better look at the tiny appendages. There were purple marks running down her shoulder blades, and out toward her armpits, with some minor inflammation on the wing nubs, themselves. “I don’t think they’re broken,” Pyrrha said. “May I?”

 

“If you must,” Weiss sighed.

 

Pyrrha started gingerly prodding at one of the nubs, receiving only an annoyed grunt from Weiss. The second she tried lifting it, however, the heiress inhaled quite sharply, back arching out of primal instinct to try and escape the pain as Pyrrha immediately released her hold. “There’s some swelling, but I think you just sprained them.”

 

“Thanks, Pyrrha,” Weiss said, putting her bolero back around her shoulders and turning to leave. When her hand touched the doorknob, she noticed Pyrrha acting like she was cemented in place. “Pyrrha? Are you coming?”

 

“Weiss…,” Pyrrha paused, fishing for the right words. “May I ask  _ why  _ you feel that you can’t trust your team?”

 

“It’s because I’m not sure how they’ll take it,” she said, walking over to her bed and sitting on the mattress, Pyrrha taking a seat on Blake’s. “I feel… very fortunate to have a friend as accepting as you are. It’s one thing to hide being a faunus… take Blake, for example. It’s another to actually  _ be _ the impossible scenario, and live a lie trying to be normal.”

 

“Why don’t you just… talk to them about it? Get their views, and carefully prod before outing yourself?” Pyrrha offered.

 

“I want to, believe me, I do, but,” Weiss said, giving a heavy sigh, “it’s just not going to be that simple. They’re all a lot smarter than they appear; they’ll catch on almost immediately. I’m scared. I don’t want to lose them. I don’t want anyone else to hate me just because I exist…”

 

There was a brief silence between them until Pyrrha spoke, “I don’t think they’ll hate you.”

 

“How can you be so certain?” Weiss asked, her voice making it apparent she didn’t believe a word from the super-prodigy.

 

“Well, let’s see,” Pyrrha said, rubbing her chin as she searched her memory. “For starters, they all behaved incredibly differently when we met back up with them after our mission. When Cardin cracked a joke about your condition, it was actually Blake who jumped to your defense first, and not Yang.”

 

“I thought Yang said he looked sympathetic?” Weiss asked, cocking an eyebrow.

 

“ _ Looked _ , being the key word,” Pyrrha said. “Cardin is finally learning how to pick his battles. With Yang in the room at the time, it would have been no surprise for him to be a bit more docile in his approach. Speaking of, I talked to Yang about what happened after we returned from our mission, when you were still unconscious. She somehow kept herself together, but I know she was hurting terribly. Ruby’s performance was… erratic during sparring. Sometimes, she’d barely be able to put up a fight, other times… other times, she’d nearly kill her opponent, as happened to Cardin after he… joked about the very real possibility of losing you. They love you so much more than you realize. If they hadn’t, well… I don’t want to think about it, really.” Pyrrha paused, waiting for Weiss to speak. When she didn’t, she continued, “My team wasn’t unaffected. Nora and Ren don’t take well to loss, but they were able to work through it by confiding in each other and their friends. Jaune probably took it the worst of our team. He kept saying he wished he had just sought out being a better friend, than trying to compete for your attention.”

 

“And you?”

 

“I decided that, no matter what happened, I would keep my promise to you. Jaune did tell me at least once that I seemed less… apologetic than usual.”

 

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Weiss said. “Being overly apologetic can have the same effect as being- Zwei!” She ran over to the closet and picked up the corgi just as he was about to snack on some popcorn. “Bad dog, popcorn’s not good for you!”

 

“Well,” Pyrrha began, laughing, “do you want help cleaning up, or were you going to save that for later?”

 

“Very funny,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes and smiling as she cradled the dog in her arms.

\----------

“Ah, well, Vacuo fans are sure to be hurting after that one. But this next round will have them on the edge of their seats!” Oobleck said, a screenshot of Nora smacking the entirety of Team BRNZ with her hammer being displayed beside him.

 

“Team Indigo of Shade is certainly a crowd favorite, but these lovely ladies are going up against some of the toughest, testosterone-filled teammates we’ve seen so far. I am, of course, talking about Team Sun!” Port announced. “Sun Wukong and his team are certainly a force to be reckoned with, and although he’ll be representing the Mistral academy of Haven, I’m sure his friends and family back in Vacuo will be cheering him along!”

 

Weiss cupped her hands beside her mouth and cheered, “Good luck, Neptune!” He seemed to ignore her and, upon spotting his opponents, made a finger gun directed toward them. She clenched her fists and shot to her feet. “Break his stupid face, Indigo!” she shouted. Fuming, she sat back down and watched him gesture to his groin, before raising his hands to chest level. The gesture actually managed to make her even angrier.

 

“Yeesh, Weiss, you gonna be alright?” Ruby asked.

 

“I’m fine, thank you!” Weiss huffed, throwing herself into her seat’s cushion.

 

“He probably just did that to put them off,” Blake said, trying to give Neptune the benefit of the doubt. “You know, make them less focused.”

 

“I doubt it,” Weiss groaned. She watched as one set of roulette tiles spun up, landing on a desert biome, buttes and sand dunes rising from the arena floor. The second set of roulette tiles started to spin up.

 

“Oh, Scarlet, you poor baby,” Blake cooed.

 

“What is it?” Ruby asked.

 

“He’s worried he’ll get sand in his shoes,” Blake replied. 

 

“I mean, if you look at how high he has to lace those things, I’m sure the rest of us would be complaining too,” Yang chuckled.The tiles stopped spinning, and landed on an ocean biome, Neptune becoming petrified as soon as he saw the arena on his team’s side.

 

“Uh, what’s wrong with Neptune?” Ruby asked as the floor opened up, making room for a large ship in knee-deep water.

 

“Oh, no,” Blake sighed, rubbing her eyebrows and shaking her head. The blue-haired boy’s condition seemed to worsen as he seemingly entered rigor mortis, Sun giving him a slight nudge to try and make him stagger. “Neptune’s… afraid of the water.”

 

“3, 2, 1, Begin!” Oobleck announced, Neptune immediately making a break for the taller butte.

 

“What is he doing?” Weiss asked.

 

“One sec,” Blake said, while Weiss watched Sun and Neptune argue. “Neptune’s tried to brush off his hydrophobia by claiming he needs to get the high ground.”

 

“On the enemy’s side?” Ruby questioned.

 

“According to Neptune, they’d never expect it.”

 

“He’s not wrong,” Yang said.

 

“That’s exactly what Dew said, actually,” Blake said.

 

Octavia had somehow materialized on the opposite side of the butte Neptune had expeditiously scaled, feinting Scarlet as she skated past him and Sage, who had just pushed himself and Dew apart from each other with a single swing of his massive sword. Dew responded by summoning three dust devils with her spear, the cyclones spinning around Sage before merging into one and tossing him out of the ring.

 

“And Indigo gains the advantage!” Oobleck announced.

 

“This ‘ll be over quick,” Weiss muttered, watching Octavia unleash fire from her dagger, sandblasting Sun and Scarlet, the monkey jumping clear. 

 

“Don’t you want them to win?” Ruby asked. Octavia turned her attention to Neptune and tried the same trick, but he put his goggles down and fired, the dagger wielder deflecting the shot and taking a kick to the face from Sun.

 

“Ooh!” Team RWBY said in unison, wincing as Octavia’s head almost went too far around, Sun finishing the job with a series of quick blows from his staff, then a jab to the face.

 

“Oh! And we’re down to 3-on-3!” Port announced. Dew summoned another dust devil, launching Scarlet toward the ship. After a brief instance of flailing wildly, he spread his arms and began to… fly?

 

_ I feel like I’m being mocked _ , Weiss thought, her grip on the ends of the armrests becoming almost painful. No sooner had Scarlet landed on one of the wooden spreaders protruding from the mast than Gwen and Nebula had made their way over. The latter fired an arrow into the mast and used the projectile to propel herself to the spreader opposite Scarlet. “Impressive,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

 

“How’d she do that?’ Ruby asked.

 

“She used one of her arrows as a springboard,” Weiss said, watching the sword battle between Nebula and Scarlet ensue.

 

“Really?” Ruby asked, shading her eyes with her hands to try and get a better view.

 

“You  _ do _ have good eyes,” Yang remarked as Nebula was knocked off the spreader by Scarlet. The redhead raised his pistol and fired a hook from the grip, latching onto Gwen, who had been too busy helping Dew fight Sun. She helplessly rose upside-down by the ankle as Scarlet descended to the floor below, every one of her knives falling out of the satchels on her skirt and embedding themselves into the ground around Scarlet.

 

Weiss watched Sun punch a tree and catch two falling coconuts before throwing them at Dew. “What does he think he’s going to do with those?” she asked, Dew sending the coconuts back at Sun, on fire.

 

“That,” Blake replied as the male attendees expressed their discomfort at how Scarlet was taken out of the match. Dew then conjured some water spouts for Sun to dodge while Nebula cut the rope holding up Gwen. “Oh come on, Neptune!” Blake exclaimed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Stop arguing and help him!”

 

After a few more seconds of arguing, and a failed lunge from Dew, the dirty blonde tried a lunge from behind, only to get shot back into the water by Neptune. The pair continued to bicker as Gwen and Nebula joined Dew in the shallow water, Sun jumping to shore and Neptune tip-toeing to the water’s edge. Sticking his trident into the water, the auras of their 3 remaining opponents dropped into disqualification as they spasmed from the electric charge.

 

“And with that, Team Sun moves on to the Doubles round!” Port announced. “You know what I call that victory?”

 

“Shocking?” Oobleck asked, excited.

 

“No. Well-earned,” Port said flatly. “What you said is stupid.”

 

“Ugh!” Ruby exclaimed, throwing her head back into her seat. “That was so close!”

 

“Looks like the dorks made it into the next round,” Yang said. The team looked down to see Sun giving Blake a pair of finger guns.

 

“Emphasis on ‘dork’,” Blake said, blushing.

 

“That concludes the matches for today. Please leave the colosseum in a CALMANDORDERLYFASHION!” Oobleck exclaimed, making the entirety of the team flinch and cover at least one ear. Weiss felt one of Ruby’s wings nudge her back, probably from the excessive loudness of the overly-caffeinated professor.

 

“Come on,” Yang said, waving her team over. “Let’s go congratulate ‘em.”

 

After taking a few steps behind Yang and Blake, Weiss looked up at the sound of an airship and watched a massive vessel with four long streamers descend toward the docks. She must have slowed down, as her mind vaguely registered a collision from one inattentive Ruby Rose.

 

“Wha-!” Ruby squeaked, Weiss coming to a standstill and still watching the airship descend. “What... are you doing?”

 

“She’s here!”Weiss exclaimed, feeling herself overflowing with joy, but getting anxious butterflies in her stomach at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think of the perspective shift to Team RWBY while keeping the fights canon? As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.  
> ~No_Count


	16. It's Brawl in the Family

“Weiss!” Ruby shouted, chasing her partner as they both ran up to the dock. “What is the big deal!? Who is it!? Who is she!?”

 

“Winter!” Weiss replied simply, watching her sister descend the loading ramp ahead of some Atlesian Knights. Her hair was tied in a bun, her long bangs sweeping over her right eye, and a small, twirling lock of hair under her left ear and wore a blue vest under a white overcoat that exposed her shoulders.  _ The bun always makes her look so… severe? Authoritarian?  _ She was everything Weiss wanted to be; strong, graceful, ambitious… and human.

 

“Wait,” Ruby pondered as the absolutely stoic woman turned to face her robotic guards, “your sister?”

 

Weiss cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Winter!” The pair ran up to a rather… unamused high-ranking military officer, the mix of butterflies and endorphins making Weiss’ head swim with a mix of anxiety and blind, overzealous joy. “Winter! I’m so happy to see you! Oh.” Remembering her manners, she forcibly depressed her mood, taking on a more formal guise. “Your presence honors us,” she said, flaring out her arms with a slight bow. If she had her wings, they likely would have done the same.

 

“Beacon,” Winter began flatly, marching forward slowly, “it’s been a long time. The air feels… different.”

 

“I mean, it is fall, so… it’s probably colder,” Ruby naively offered, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. 

 

Weiss rolled her eyes and gave her partner a quick punch to the cheek, putting the bird faunus on her knees, mostly out of shock. “So, what are you doing here?” she asked.

 

“Classified,” Winter stated.

 

“Oh,” Weiss began, assuming a stiff, straight posture, “right.” Out of the corner of her vision, she spotted a movement. Stealing a quick glance, it was someone on a neighboring landing pad running up to someone and wrapping them in a hug.  _ I wish I could do that... _ “Well, how long are you staying?”

 

“Classified,” Winter said. How helpful…

 

“Of course,” Weiss nodded, folding her hands formally. From leaves falling off trees to people meandering around, the various activities happening in the corners of her vision were starting to work her nerves.

 

“Well, this is nice… I think,” Ruby said awkwardly.

 

“You’re going to love it here!” Weiss blurted out, her excitement completely overpowering her anxiety and breaking free of containment. “I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! Vale, too. The government and school are completely separate, can you believe it!? I-”

 

“I’m more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its... bureaucracy,” Winter interrupted, that last part being said with a bit of discontent, or even contempt. “That is  _ not  _ why I came.”

 

“Right,” Weiss said, bowing slightly. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle,” she continued. “But it appears I have no choice in the matter.”

 

“But… we won!” Weiss protested.

 

“Only a novice would refer to  _ that _ a victory,” Winter countered, deflating Weiss ever further. “I counted at least  _ three _ strikes missed. Leave us.” The robots behind her beeped in confirmation and took some steps backward. “How have you been?”

 

“Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking. I’m actually in the very top ranking of our sparring class.” 

 

**_She won’t care._ **

 

“The rest of my studies are going wonderfully, too. I’m-” A quick strike to the head just above her temple silenced her.

 

“Silence, you boob!” Winter chided. “I don’t recall asking about your _ ranking _ . I asked how you’ve  _ been _ .” She formed what may have been her first smile since she arrived. “Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies?”

 

_ Unless you count cutting my wings off periodically as a hobby, no... _

 

“Are you making new friends?”

 

“Oh, friends… right. Well, let’s see… there’s Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, Velvet, Coco, and Ruby, here,” she said, gesturing to the winged faunus beside her.

 

Ruby snorted. “Boob,” she said, pressing on the swelling lump on Weiss’ head, making her wince.

 

“I see. So this is the leader you wrote of. Though I am glad to hear you have made so many friends, I can’t help but feel so appropriately… underwhelmed,” she said, looking at Ruby.

 

“Uh… thank you?” Ruby said, clearly unsure of how to take that.

 

“Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister,” Winter said.

 

“Oh, yes, of course! The honor is in my… court,” Ruby said, trying to sound formal and failing miserably, earning a disdainful glare from Winter.

 

“I have business with the general and your headmaster. But seeing as I’m early… why don’t you take me to your quarters?”

 

“Really?” Weiss asked, equal parts anxious and excited.

 

“Yes,” Winter replied, marching forward with her robot guards, Weiss walking with her. “I wish to inspect them and make sure they’re up to my personal standards.”

 

“Of course,” Weiss said. “Just so you’re aware, the bunk beds only look unstable.”

 

“Bunk… beds?” Winter asked, uncertain if she had heard correctly.

 

“I’ll catch up- I mean, I will reconvene with you both at a later… juncture!” Ruby called after them. Weiss couldn’t help but roll her eyes at how hopeless Ruby would be in a formal setting.

 

“Yes,” Weiss replied. “Basically, after we had moved everything in, there wasn’t enough room for all of our stuff  _ and _ the beds, so Ruby’s solution was to make bunk beds. I honestly thought the construction would be less stable than it actually is, even if it is quite… rudimentary.”

 

“This will certainly be interesting,” Winter said, stopping her march as she heard metal clatter to the ground. A drunk with a tattered red cape was holding a headless AK-290, said robot’s head laying on the ground mere yards from Weiss and her sister.

 

“Hey!” He called out. “Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you… Ice Queen.” He threw the robot to the side like it actually were a tin can.

 

“Halt!” Winter ordered.

 

“Excuse me!” Weiss exclaimed stalking up to the drunk. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”

 

The drunk placed a heavy hand on her head and shushed her. He smelled of alcohol, but not like the wine her mother drank. This smelled more familiar, but she couldn’t place it. “Not you,” he said, shoving her to the side and continuing past her.

 

“Hey!” Weiss said.

 

“You,” he said, glaring at Winter. “Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you’re here, too.”

 

“I’m standing right before you,” Winter replied.

 

He squinted as if to get a better look. “So it would seem.”

 

“You realize you just destroyed Atlas military property?”

 

“Ohh, I’m sorry. See, I mistook this for some sort of… sentient garbage.”

 

“I don’t have time for your immature games, Qrow,” Winter chastised, approaching the drunk.

 

“Wait,” Weiss began, running up to her sister’s side, “you two know each other?”

 

“Geez, you Atlas specialists think you’re so special, don’t you?” Qrow asked condescendingly.

 

“It’s in the title.”

 

“Well, you know what you really are? A buncha sellouts. Just like your boss.”

 

“I’m not sure what you think you’re implying, but I’ve heard enough,” Winter growled.

 

“Oh, I heard too,” Qrow said, taking a few steps closer. “I heard ol’ Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin.”

 

“Ozpin?” Weiss questioned.

 

“Weiss, it’s time for you to go,” Winter said, pushing Weiss away.

 

“What?”

 

“Listen to big sister, Weiss,” Qrow said. “She’ll protect you. Just like Atlas would protect all of us if it came down to it, huh?”

 

“If you won’t hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you!” Winter barked, drawing her saber.

 

“Alright, then,” Qrow said, sweeping his hair back. “Come take it.”

 

Winter charged forward, coming upon her opponent in a blink and started trying to stab at his face with no success. In total, she counted seven missed strikes, but there could have easily been more until Qrow bent over and blocked the one connecting strike with his weapon still attached to his back. It expanded into a greatsword and he parried Winter’s strike, sending her blade up and slightly off to the side as he brought the oversized weapon into a dramatic flare to brandish it against her sister. Winter composed herself and brought her saber back to the front. Their blades clinked, then Qrow smashed Winter’s saber down with his sword, before slicing sideways, Winter resorting to acrobatics to keep from getting hit before the duo wound up in a stalemate in the center of the courtyard, trading a flurry of glances off their swords.

 

“What’s going on!?” Ruby asked, running up to Weiss.

 

“Some crazy guy just started attacking my sister!” Weiss exclaimed, gesturing to the combatants.

 

“Oh no! Who would do such a th-aat is my uncle!” Ruby shouted, becoming excited.

 

“What!?”

 

“Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!” Ruby cheered.

 

“Uh, teach him respect, Winter!” Weiss exclaimed, trying to be supportive, the duelists now moving so fast, her eyes were having trouble following them around the circle they fought in. After Winter hit him in the face with the hilt of her saber, Qrow reared up, and brought his sword down onto the stone walkway, narrowly missing Winter and making a new crater to match the one Weiss and Ruby made the day they met. He then pursued Winter outside the circle and cut down a lamppost. It was hard to see what was going on past that, other than Winter climbing a tower and running along the adjacent viaduct while avoiding Qrow’s shotgun slugs. After a cloud of fog on the viaduct and the sound of stone shattering, the pair were right back where they started, but with Qrow digging his mammoth blade into the ground to slow his momentum. Flaring her saber, Winter planted the blade into the ground and conjured a glyph, summoning dozens of tiny Nevermore. They immediately attacked Qrow, the drunk swinging his blade and managing to destroy a few before they all disappeared and Winter summoned a single large glyph behind herself, lowering and widening her stance. In response, Qrow’s weapon started to change, the blade starting to become curved, then quickly reverting into its inert form and being slung onto his back. He beckoned her with a finger, and she charged forward with a war cry.

 

“Schnee!” a voice boomed, causing Winter to stop her blade only an inch from her aggressor’s throat. Turning to the source, it was Ironwood, with Penny in tow.

 

“General Ironwood, sir!” Winter said, standing at attention.

 

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” Ironwood chided.

 

“He started the altercation, sir!” Winter quickly replied.

 

“That’s actually not true,” Qrow lackadaisically countered, hands folded behind his head. “She attacked first.”

 

“Is that right?” Ironwood pondered. Winter’s mouth was now frozen agape, possibly either out of fear or shock. Not that anyone could blame her. Ironwood could be terrifying if he wanted to. She bowed her head in acceptance of her fate. “And you,” Ironwood continued, looking past Winter, toward Qrow. Amongst the murmuring of the crowd, Ironwood’s words were muddled.

 

“I could be asking you the same thing,” Qrow’s much more careless voice replied. Weiss thought she saw Ironwood’s shoulders twitch, as though he flinched.

 

“Now, now, everyone,” a very familiar voice began. Everyone turned to find Ozpin and Glynda walking toward the source of commotion. “There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the colosseum that I can assure you has better seats. And popcorn.”

 

“Break it up, everyone!” Glynda shouted, stepping in. “We will take care of this mess.”

 

“Let’s go,” Ironwood said, assuming control of the robots, Winter and Penny following. Ruby waved at the latter, and she waved back.

 

“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby shouted, darting toward the drunkard and latching onto his arm, where she was lifted with seemingly no effort, wings flapping wildly in her excitement. “Did you miss me? Did you miss me!?”

 

“Nope,” Qrow replied with a smirk, tussling her hair.

 

“Qrow,” Ozpin said sternly, causing the aforementioned man to drop Ruby onto her butt. “A word, please.”

 

“I guess I’m in trouble,” Qrow said to Ruby.

 

“You did kinda tear up our courtyard,” Ruby replied.

 

“Yeah, I did,” Qrow said, offering a fist bump, which was obliged. “Catch you later, kid.”

 

“And suddenly, your recklessness makes sense,” Weiss said as she approached Ruby, folding her arms.

 

“You’re just mad ‘cause he whooped butt,” Ruby replied, lightly checking Weiss with her elbow.

 

“That was a draw, at best,” Weiss refuted. “Is your uncle always like this?”

 

“You mean awesome?” Ruby asked, still on an adrenaline high.

 

“I mean drunk!”

 

“Oh,” Ruby said, cringing and scratching the back of her head. “Yeah… he’s like that a lot. I haven’t seen him this drunk in a while, though. I wonder what happened? Don’t worry, though. He’s usually tons of fun.”

 

“I beg to differ,” Weiss grumbled before stalking off.

\-----------

Coco and Yatsuhashi’s match could have gone better. The pair put up a good fight, but were ultimately overpowered by their opponents; a kickboxer and dual pistol-wielder. As much as Weiss would have loved either of them to be in the Singles round, at least Haven would have a good showing. She left to visit her sister in the garden.

...

“You’re… leaving?” Weiss asked, setting her croissant back down in her disappointment. They were in the central pantheon, surrounded on all sides by alabaster pillars wrapped in climbing vines, mosses hanging from the arched wall mounted atop said pillars. Smaller pillars stood on either side of the sisters, each holding a small bush.

 

“I was merely needed to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale,” Winter replied. “Our last shipment was lost to unknown causes. It’s fortunate the White Fang hasn’t been seen with such powerful technology, though the Paladins were only in the prototype stage. Weiss,” she paused, grabbing Weiss’ hand, “...you’ve done… well… out here on your own. You should be proud.” She released her hold and actually broke down her formal facade. “I’ll be honest, it was actually quite amusing watching Father’s face the day you left for Beacon.”

 

“I can’t wait to show him what I’ve learned,” Weiss said confidently, folding her arms.

 

“Oh?” Winter pondered, smirking and folding her hands under her chin. “And what do you think you’ve learned?”

 

“What do you mean?” she asked. “I’m getting better and better with my glyphs. I’ve even started time dilation.”

 

“And what of your Summoning?” Winter asked.

 

“I…,” Weiss began, feeling herself deflate. The constant trickling of the central fountain was the only thing to fill the air during her pause. “You know I can’t.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Winter said. “Every Schnee has the ability to Summon. We have for generations.”

 

“I’ve tried!” Weiss exclaimed. “It’s just… it’s the one thing I’m having trouble with!”

 

“We Schnees are unique,” Winter said. “Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary. But that doesn’t mean that it will come easily. Your Semblance is like a muscle.” She paused and conjured a glyph in her hand. “The more you practice with it, the stronger it will become. But if you focus on only one aspect of it… If you fail to test the limits of what you think is possible... “ A bright flash made Weiss shield her eyes, and when she uncovered them, stared as a large, blue-white beowolf stood tall beside Winter. “...Then you’ll never truly grow.” After a brief moment petting the Summon, she dispelled it. “Now, how about you try Summoning?” she asked, removing herself from her seat and gesturing to some nearby tiles between themselves and the fountain. Weiss followed suit and drew her sword, pointing it at the ground. A weak, flickering glyph formed. “Excellent form! Now think of your fallen foes!” Winter commanded. “The ones who forced you to push past who you were, and forced you to become who you are, now.” The glyph continued to flicker as Weiss poured more and more energy into it. “Think of them, and watch as they come to your side.” 

 

Weiss closed her eyes, and unleashed a torrent of energy into the glyph, the item spinning ever faster, then disappearing. She drew her sword down to her side, the point nearly on the ground. “I can’t,” she said, earning herself a slap to the back of the head from Winter.

 

“Stop doubting yourself!” Winter scolded.

 

“I’m trying!” Weiss shouted in frustration.

 

“If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of winning the Tournament, let alone succeeding as a Huntress. Why don’t you just move back home? I’m sure Father will give you a nice job as a receptionist,” Winter said, mocking.

 

_ Yeah, or a Dust miner… _ “I don’t need his charity!”

 

“But you do need his money, don’t you?” Winter asked, leaning down, nearly to Weiss’ eye level.

 

“What!? How did you know about that!?”

 

“Lucky guess,” Winter replied. “I may have been in a similar situation when I joined the military. So, what have you done this time?”

 

“Well, that’s the thing,” Weiss said as her sister started pacing in a slow, wide circle around her. “I’m really not sure.”  _ Maybe he just likes tormenting me because I’m a faunus? _ “I went to pay for lunch the other day, but my card didn’t work.”

 

“How embarrassing.”

 

“I know!” Weis exclaimed, whipping around to face her sister, who smiled and shook her head. “Well, it was! Why would he cut me off like that!?” 

 

**_Don’t play coy._ **

 

“Perhaps so you’d stop avoiding him and call home,” Winter said.

 

__ **_How utterly tone deaf…_ **

 

Weiss spun on her heel and thrust her sword to a different spot on the ground, summoning a stronger glyph.

 

“Emotions can grant you strength,” Winter said, placing a hand on Weiss’ shoulder, “...but you must never let them overpower you. It sounds to me like you have two choices in front of you. You can either call him, beg for his money back and explain once more why you chose to study at Beacon over Atlas.”

 

**_And you thought Jaune was thick…_ **

 

“Or… You could continue to explore Remnant. Discovering more about the world, and honestly, more about yourself.”

 

_ Should I tell her? _

 

**_Do it. Shut up and get it over with. Worst thing, she treats you just like Jacques._ **

 

_ That doesn’t make it better… _

 

**_But it_ ** **will** **_give you an answer._ **

 

“It’s time for me to go,” Winter said, leaning in for a hug, which Weiss returned. Weiss watched silently as her older sister walked away.

 

**_Do. It._ **

 

“Winter, wait,” Weiss began, hesitating slightly, “I… I have something I need to talk to you about.” 

 

“Of course, Weiss,” she said, pausing in the middle of the archway and turning to face Weiss. “Whatever it is, I’m here.”

 

“What are your thoughts with regards to the faunus?” Weiss asked, starting to shrink into herself.

 

Winter looked away and rubbed her chin in thought. “An odd question, and not one I would normally entertain... but I suspect there is much more to this than I would normally be inclined to believe. The faunus aren’t too different from you or I, truth be told, and can be quite beneficial to a team. Faunus with ears like your teammate, Blake Belladonna-”

 

“How did you know about that!?” Weiss interrupted.

 

“The Belladonnas were quite influential in the White Fang while it was still peaceful, and I have had the pleasure of meeting with Ghira and Kali before. Anyway, back to what I was saying; tailed faunus tend to have greater agility than most, and claws lend themselves well in combat. As for winged faunus like your partner, they have unmatched mobility on the battlefield, and a sniper, especially, is a tremendous asset if they can reach otherwise inaccessible locations. Also, while Huntsmen tend to have… eccentric tastes with regards to arms and armor, you don’t see a teenager wearing a bow like that so often.”

 

“It still needs to remain a secret,” Weiss said quietly.

 

“Of course,” Winter said. “I’m not some petty gossip, after all, and will respect your team’s privacy on the matter. I suspect you would not simply ask my opinions of your teammates, if you have found friends in them, already. They have been good for you. I can tell. Your spirits are much higher than when you left home. No, I suspect this goes far deeper than that. Tell me, sister. What troubles you?”

 

**_Tell her, or she’ll get mad at you for wasting her time with her busy schedule._ **

 

_ She might get mad at me, anyway… _ “Winter,” Weiss began, pausing, “you love me, right?”

 

“Of course,” Winter replied. “We’re the only ones either of us has had for years. I’m not sure anything short of you sending money to the White Fang as they currently are could make me not. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

 

Weiss hesitated, then said, “What if I showed you?”

 

Winter raised a quizzical eyebrow. “...Showed me?”

 

_ Here goes _ , Weiss thought as she turned around, back facing Winter. She could feel her sister’s confused stare as she slowly removed her bolero, her heart threatening to leap from her chest as it beat like a bass drum in her ears as the fabric scraped against down and the inches-long nubs. A movement to the right made her gasp and hurriedly pull the jacket back up around her shoulders. Turning to the source of the motion, it was a squirrel in a tree well outside the pantheon. She gave an exasperated sigh and checked her surroundings to find they were, in fact, alone.

 

“Well…?” Winter asked, her voice making it apparent she was the most confused person Weiss had met all month.

 

“Sorry,” Weiss said, taking a breath.

 

Winter watched her sister slowly lower her bolero down her back, exposing thin, patchy down and a pair of small, fleshy appendages dotted with tufts of down. At their bases were dark purple lines, one pair running out toward Weiss’ armpits, and another a short distance down her back, running in the same track as a patch of darker, coarse-looking skin. Winter felt her mouth running dry and clicked it shut as her sister raised her jacket back up around her shoulders, though failing to obscure the strange cocktail of emotions preventing her from forming a coherent thought.

 

“Winter...,” Weiss began, snapping Winter out of her daze, pausing, “Do you… still love me?”

 

“Of course I do,” she said, beginning to pace. “Weiss… how is this even… Was Mother… unfaithful?”

 

Weiss shook her head. “I wish… The tests came back positive. All six dozen of them, give or take. We’re fully related. Not half-sisters, no mix-ups… I’m just… an abom-”

 

“No!” Winter exclaimed, spinning on her heel and scowling. “I don’t care if you have wings and feathers. You’re still my sister. You’re my family. No matter what happens, you always will be! Don’t let Father’s opinion of you control you all the way from his glass palace in Atlas, because I already know exactly what he thinks.” She stopped her tirade and fell back into the seat, burying her face in her hands.

 

“Winter…”

 

“I can’t believe I was so blind…”

 

“Winter?”

 

“It makes sense, now. It all makes so much more sense why you were always punished in Whitley’s place, why he sent you to schools instead of hiring top-class educators like he did for myself and Whitley…” She brought her face up and locked eyes with Weiss. “Did you have  _ anyone _ when I was away at school or work?”

 

“Just Klein,” Weiss said. “I only interacted with Father if I had to, and Mother was always… you know.” She paused and gave a slight huff. “Winter, I’m honestly terrified. If what I really am becomes common knowledge, I’ll most likely be sent to work in a mine. You’re the first person I’ve willingly told.”

 

“Willingly?”

 

“Doctor Oobleck found out when I fell gravely ill during our mission to Mountain Glenn,” she began, taking a seat back at the table, “I admitted it to Professor Ozpin, but he, apparently, already knew. Pyrrha found out during one of my grooming sessions, right after I had used Myrtenaster to cut them off.”

 

“Why not see a physician?”

 

“Father said I was on my own, and that he was tired of paying for surgeries to get them removed-”

 

“They grow back?”

 

“Yes,” Weiss said. “I’m not sure why, and Ozpin said this is the first case he’s heard of of limbs growing back on anyone. And if you’re going to ask, no, I don’t know. Best I can figure is an owl or something.”

 

“I… see,” Winter said. “Anything else?”

 

“My eyesight is eight times better than the average human’s, so I’ve got something good out of this, at least. And Winter?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Thank you… for not hating me.”

 

“No, Weiss,” Winter began, removing herself from the chair and beckoning Weiss to do the same before wrapping her in a hug, “...thank you for trusting me.” She removed herself from the embrace. “I know how hard this must have been for you, if it took this long to come out of hiding, even for me. Therefore, I am not taking this for granted. I am afraid I must go. It has been a pleasure seeing you again.”

 

“You, too, Winter,” Weiss said, watching her sister walk away, only for her to stop after a few steps.

 

“And Weiss?” Winter queried, garnering Weiss’ attention. “If I could ask just one thing of this unjust world, it’s that you wouldn’t have to return to Father. I’ll keep in touch.” She flashed her hand and strutted off toward the dock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the click-baity summary I wanted to go with was 'Weiss exposes herself in front of Winter', but that would have left a bad mark for this chapter. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feedback is always appreciated.
> 
> ~No_Count


	17. New Challengers

As much as Weiss would have liked Russel and Sky to win their Doubles match, if only for Beacon to have more representation in the Singles rounds, they were clearly no match against Penny and her partner, Ciel. The ginger targeted both opponents with her numerous swords, and while not managing to hit either of them, embedded the blades into the boulders her opponents hid behind. While she had been on the fence all match about who to support, Ruby had made it clear long ago she supported Penny, while Yang and Blake didn’t seem to care who won.

 

“Kind of sad that they never actually stood a chance,” Weiss said.

 

“You want  _ them  _ to represent Beacon?” Blake questioned, raising an eyebrow.

 

“It’s not quite that simple,” Weiss said. “While it would be nice for Vale to have more of a presence in the Singles rounds, it’s probably better if Penny advances, overall.”

 

“I mean, she seems to be doing all the heavy lifting,” Yang said as Penny lifted up the boulders she had dug her swords into, Russel and Sky still clinging to them, before slamming the rocks into the ground and making them shatter. The buzzer sounded and Penny gave her opponents a bow before a falling rock hit Russel on the head. Ruby bounced in her seat and the team watched her leave to meet Penny.

 

“Well, our match is up next,” Weiss said to Yang, nodding her head toward the exit. “Might as well get ready.”

 

“Oh, heck yeah!” Yang exclaimed, punching her palm. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day!”

\-------------

With only two of them in it, the armory was quiet. Weiss had already finished prepping a while ago, and was just waiting for Yang to quit fiddling with her gauntlets so they could get on the field and face their opponents. She gave an exasperated sigh.

 

“We have to be on the field in time for the match, otherwise we forfeit,” she said sternly. “Whatever you’re doing to your gauntlets, it should not have taken this long.”

 

“It’s… How do I approach the subject…?” Yang wondered aloud, though quietly.

 

“Just say it,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes and growing evermore impatient.

 

“Here goes,” Yang said quietly, spinning on the bench to face the heiress. “Back in Mountain Glenn, you called me ‘Mother’, and… you said you were a mistake… and an abomination.” Weiss flinched at those words, remembering everything Blake told her she had said, and wondered what the cat hadn’t told her about. “Why do you talk about yourself like that?” Her voice said she was worried, and her face said she was hurt.

 

Weiss fished for an answer for a moment, pretending to contemplate the thought. “Winter was the strong one, always so powerful and graceful, and I wanted to be just like her, but… I’m not as strong as she was at my age,” she said, folding her arms and looking down and away. “Early on in her first year at Atlas, she was already summoning beowolves she killed during initiation. Summoning is a facet of my semblance… a facet I’m not particularly good at.”

 

“But-” Weiss held out a hand to silence the brawler.

 

“My brother, on the other hand, he’s ambitious as far as business is concerned.” She gave a mirthless chuckle. “The favorite, really. He has no interest in becoming a huntsman, only in obtaining as much money and power as possible before he’s put in the ground. Just like my father. I lack the business sense of my brother, and the strength of my sister; both were so praised for their exceedingly acute talents in their respective fields of interest, but the only thing I managed to shine in is,” her tone turned bitter, “...playing the piano and singing.”

 

“Weiss, you sing beautifully-”

 

“I’ve been practically living in the shadows of my siblings, chasing two lives at once and hoping I can catch just one of them. When my sister was training to get into Atlas, she fought the same opponents I did, but I’m the one that wound up with the scars,” she said, running her fingers down the scar on her left eye. “So, I’ve tried to push on, even when I’m sick, living a life of denial just so I don’t disappoint those around me,” she looked Yang in the eye, “...and failing anyway.”

 

“You didn’t disappoint us, Weiss,” Yang said. She didn’t get up from her seat just yet, even though everything in her was telling her to run to the heiress and wrap her in the same protective hugs she’d give Ruby whenever she’d talk like this. “We were so scared we’d lose you. Ruby cried herself to sleep every night, I was doing so much schoolwork to try and keep my mind off the fact you might not come home… even Blake wasn’t herself.” Yang looked at the floor, her eyes gliding from one side of the room to the other as she pieced together her next thought, “Why do you retreat whenever one of us grabs your shoulders? If you don’t want me to tell anyone, I won’t; I’ll leave that up to you. I just need to know why you shrank away from Ruby the day you came home. Why you pulled away from me when we were looking for Blake…”

 

“You promise?” Weiss asked. Yang gave a slow nod in response and Weiss took a breath. “Okay… Well, my father would often yell at me, and usually right before, or somewhere in the middle of his tirade, he would grab my shoulders to keep me from escaping. If I resisted too much, he would… hit me. Usually in the ribs or just anywhere that wasn’t normally exposed. Because of my aura, the damage never lasted, but I still felt it.”

 

“That explains it, then,” Yang said in a low tone.

 

“Explains what?”

 

“It explains why you were begging Dr. Oobleck to stop hurting you when he was giving First Aid. Weiss, I’m so sorry…”

 

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” Weiss said. “It’s not…” She was cut off as strong arms wrapped around her, a thick, yellow mane in her face. “...Yang?”

 

“You’ve been through Hell. Alone.” The blonde pulled away, her irises red. “Does your sister know how your… father treated you?” The heiress shook her head, mildly afraid of her larger teammate. “I’m so sorry…” She blinked and they returned to lilac.

 

“Don’t be sorry,” Weiss said, removing Yang’s hands from her shoulders. “You had nothing to do with how I was treated at home.”

 

“Why not tell us, then?” Yang asked.

 

“Partly because I didn’t want pity. Mostly because I didn’t want to look weak, like I had to constantly be coddled and tended to every waking moment,” she said sourly. “Just because I was… not raised well… it doesn’t mean I don’t know how to stand on my own feet.”

 

“You were abused, Weiss,” Yang stated firmly, trying to drive the point home. “Horrifically, by the sound of it. We’d help you through it if you’d ask, but we’d also give you the space you wanted. We won’t treat you like a child.” She sighed. “I actually had to give Ruby almost the same talk a few years ago, now that I think about it.”

 

“Can I ask why?” Weiss asked. “It seems like you two have a healthy relationship with your father.”

 

“It was nothing to do with our dad,” Yang dismissed. “It was actually someone at school, but it’s probably better if Ruby’s the one to tell you. On the condition that you also share your story with her, and let us help you. If Dad were here, he’d probably tell you something along the lines of being able to carry a burden by yourself for only so long.”

 

“At any rate, I think we’ve talked enough,” Weiss said. “Let’s get on the field.” Yang gave a slow nod in agreement.

\-----------

"It appears Team RWBY has sent their brains and brawn, Weiss Schnee of Atlas, and Yang Xiao Long of Patch!" Port announced.

 

"In my experience, typical tactics of Team RWBY seem to be flying by the seat of their pants or, in Miss Belladonna's case, sticking to the shadows,” Oobleck said. “A direct approach such as this from two very opposite members should prove exciting, indeed!"

 

"I think he means brains and boobs,” Blake joked.

 

"I mean, if she uses them as a distraction, then that counts as a thought,” Ruby replied, making them both laugh as Weiss and Yang strode onto the field, their opponents a bit farther out.

 

“Well, now it’s our turn!” Yang exclaimed, stretching her shoulders.

 

“Just remember to keep proper form,” Weiss said.

 

“Alright,” Yang said. “You’re from Atlas. What could we expect?”

 

“Well, seeing as their Kingdom, Academy, and Armed Forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully-rehearsed strategies-,” Weiss said, herself and Yang jumping as someone created a great deal of noise and wind behind them, blowing Weiss’ skirt hard to one side. She turned her attention to the front to find a colorful cat faunus with nunchucks and skates standing beside a dark-skinned human wearing a semi-formal suit with a loose tie, sunglasses and a fedora, wielding a trumpet. “Or... whatever they are.”  _ Thank goodness for tulle… _

 

“Hey! You’re Weiss Schnee, right?” Sunglasses asked. “The heiress.”

 

“I am!” Weiss exclaimed happily, giving a nod.

 

“I take it you’re pretty good with Dust, then.”

 

“I do my best,” Weiss said, trying to remain humble.

 

**_Good job. Pride was always your undoing earlier this year._ **

 

_ Shut up… _

 

“Yeah! My dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own… ‘til your father’s company ran him out of business,” he said, glaring at her.

 

“Oh,” Weiss said, ashamed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”  _ Of course Father would somehow be involved… _

 

“Sure you are,” Flynt said sardonically.

 

“Hey!” Yang exclaimed. “Why don’t you-?”

 

“Hey! Why don’t you-?” the cat faunus said, mimicking Yang. “That’s what you sound like!”

 

“Uh…”

 

“Hey! Where’d you get your hair extensions?” the apparently every excitable cat faunus asked. Weiss took a quick glance at the scoreboard to find their names.

 

“This is just my normal hair,” Yang said.

 

“Ooh, really!?” Neon exclaimed.

 

“Yeah, is that a prob-?”

 

“You should try rollerblading sometime! It’s super fun!”

 

_ She’d make great friends with Nora… _

 

“It’d probably take you a while, though, since you’re so... you know… top-heavy.”

 

Yang looked down at her breasts, then glared at Neon. “Excuse me!?”

 

_ Okay, so Yang’s dealing with a mix between Sun and Nora on roller skates, and I’ve got a guy with a serious grudge against my family. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ‘accidentally’ went too far… or exposed my secret in front of the whole world… and my team... _

 

The roulette boards stopped spinning to reveal their environment; some ruins, a desertscape, rocks with crystals, and a fiery wasteland.

 

“Three...” Weiss and Yang assumed their ready stances. “Two... One...” Neon and Flynt shared a glance, and the cat got in her ready stance while Flynt took a deep breath. Yang and Weiss broke their stances and shared a confused look. “Begin!”

 

Flynt immediately blared his trumpet, Weiss creating a glyph to hold herself in place while Neon used the soundwaves to accelerate herself and tackle Yang, leaving Weiss alone with Flynt. Flynt stopped blaring his trumpet, and Weiss took the opportunity to change her glyph and lunge, closing the distance considerably before he started again. Cementing herself to the ground, she summoned another glyph to help her move forward, only for Flynt to stop, sending her stumbling forward past the musician. A sudden impact on her spine sent her careening through a cluster of fire crystals. Taking a moment to collect herself, she realized she was in the middle of the wasteland, fiery geysers erupting around her. Getting to her feet, she assumed a stance to find Flynt had decided to join her. Summoning some glyphs, she twirled thrice, pumping aura and Dust into them, before unleashing icy spears. Flynt looked surprised at first, until he did a backflip and redirected a firespout toward her, which she narrowly dodged.

 

“Too bad all that money can’t buy you skill,” Flynt said.

 

_ “It certainly is a shame you weren’t given the same gifts as either of your siblings,” _ her father’s voice rang.  _ “This world has no use for a faunus that can only sing and dance.” _ Throwing her hands down in a fit, she spun Myrtenaster’s cylinder and met Flynt’s blast with a column of Wind Dust, then summoned a ring of glyphs around them, and one behind herself. She launched herself away onto another glyph, then another, each time launching an ice spear at Flynt and making him stumble from the impact before finding herself quite literally blown away by an intensified trumpet blast.

 

“What’s this?” Port questioned.

 

“It appears young Flynt has just activated his Semblance, and quite a remarkable one at that,” Oobleck announced. “Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on Flynt Coal’s… Killer Quartet!”

 

_ What!? _ Weiss thought, looking at the scoreboard and finding she was down by fifteen on her opponent, and Yang wasn’t faring so well against Neon. Reaching for Myrtenaster, her hopes were all but dashed when Flynt placed a foot on the sword and flashed her a wicked grin.

 

“I’m not saying you should go on a diet, I was saying you really  _ need _ to go on a diet!” Neon exclaimed, skating in circles around Yang as she teased her.

 

“THAT’S IT!” Yang shouted. Flynt turned back to Weiss, then back to Yang before widening his stance and activating his Semblance once more. She looked at the ground just in front of her opponent; a fire geyser about to erupt, directly between Yang and Flynt. Acting more on instinct than actual thought, Weiss charged into Flynt, knocking both of them into the erupting fire geyser. Weiss howled in pain until the darkness mercifully took her.

…...

“Weiss!” someone exclaimed. Coughing, she looked up to find her teammates running over to her.

 

“Did we win?” she asked, slightly delirious.

 

“No,” Blake said, folding her arms and glaring at her.

 

“We need to talk,” Yang said, grabbing her by the collar of her jacket and pulling her off the ashen ground. The blonde grabbed her by the arm and she was led out to the shuttle, which took them to Beacon, where they went to their dorm. Yang practically threw Weiss into the dorm’s living area, where she landed on the floor in a heap, nearly colliding into the book shelf with her head.

 

“What were you thinking?” Blake chided, putting a foot on her back to keep the smaller girl from trying to run.

 

“You could have just sent him into that geyser with one of your glyphs and assisted with Neon!” Ruby exclaimed, frustrated. “Idiot…”

 

On the verge of tears, Weiss choked out, “I’m sorry-”

 

“Don’t be sorry!” Yang roared, kicking her in the leg, her foot impacting a burn, making her yelp and gasp sharply from the pain. “It’s your fault we lost!” She stormed out of the room, followed by Blake.

 

“Ruby,” Weiss pleaded, looking up at her leader as she felt tears starting to roll down her face and soak into the carpet. “Ruby, please…”

 

“Spare me your tears,” Ruby said, turning away and walking out of the dorm, closing the door behind her. Weiss stared in stunned silence as her friends all left. Forcing herself to her feet, she limped to the door, finding the familiar hallways of the mansion back in Atlas.

 

“Hello?” she called, wary. 

 

“Ah, dearest sister!” her brother, Whitley, exclaimed jovially. “It’s so good to have you back home. I trust you’ve had a fun, eventful year at Beacon?”

 

“Whitley?” Weiss inquired. “You’re being… awful nice.” She looked back behind her to find the dorm having been replaced with her old room.

 

“I haven’t exactly stopped growing since you were away at Beacon,” he said, still giving her what she assumed was a fake smile. “By the way, Father wants a word with you in his office. He seems more agitated than usual… just a heads-up.”

 

Weiss nodded and went on her way. The halls had a fiery sunset glow flooding them from the light entering through the windows. She looked up through them to admire the beautiful serenity that was the sky, though it was nowhere to be seen, as if it were covered by a thick, black blanket. She hung her head and dismayed. Yet another simple thing she wouldn’t get to enjoy before walking into the lion’s den. Coming to the door of her father’s office, she raised her fist to knock, then hesitated. Taking a breath to steel herself, she rapped on the door twice.

 

“Enter,” Jacques said loud enough to be heard through the door. Weiss obliged, closing the door behind her. She walked up to her father’s desk, the man chatting over the phone with someone about business, though the words seemed… muddled. Scanning the desk, she noted lots of paperwork that she could easily read from where she stood if she wanted, some fancy pens that were likely a hundred lien or more each, and a single portrait of her brother. On the back wall was a large painting of Jacques, himself. “Goodbye,” he said, sighing as he hung up the phone. “Do you know why I called you here?” he asked, lacing his fingers together on the desk.

 

“No, sir,” Weiss said quietly, shaking her head slightly.

 

“Due to your blunder at the Vytal Tournament, as well as several students at the school starting rumors of you being a faunus, I have decided to revoke your status as heiress to the company, and unenroll you from Beacon Academy.” He hummed thoughtfully. “I actually expected more of a reaction from you at that news. My demands are simple; stay in your room as much as possible, don’t turn it into a nest, and you will be safe here. Fail to meet those demands, and I will not hesitate to donate you to the circus. Or the mines. Am I clear?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Weiss said, again quietly, and nodding.

 

“Good, then-” A knock at the door interrupted him. “What is it?” The door opened to reveal a woman with long black hair tucked into a ponytail and red eyes, so full of life. Her dress was even similar to Weiss’, except black with red highlights. “Ah, Noir. What brings you here?”

 

“I have the documents you requested, sir,” Noir replied, placing a stack of folders on the desk. “They have been thoroughly examined multiple times to ensure no mistakes have been made.”

 

“Excellent. Weiss, you may go,” Jacques said. Weiss gave a nod and walked toward the door. “Oh, one more thing.” Weiss paused and turned to listen. “I hope I don’t have to remind you what happens if the public finds out something... unsavory about you?”

 

“No, sir,” Weiss said, shaking her head.

 

“Good,” he replied. “Now, leave my sight.”

 

Weiss left the room and closed the door behind her, waiting a second after it clicked shut to release the quiet, defeated sigh she had been holding in as she made her way back to her room. Passing through the piano room she used to practice in, she ran her hand across the instrument's oak panelling, letting the memories of practice dance through her head, the only release she ever had in this forsaken place. She turned her gaze toward the painting on the wall right of the piano; a family portrait. She didn’t need to approach the painting to see what was on it; a sorry excuse for a family. Jacques and Whitley, the only ones smiling; herself, Winter, and their mother, all frowning. She tore her eyes from the painting and back to the floor as she walked the remainder of the distance to her room, flopping down onto her mattress in agony. Poking her head up, she noticed a familiar item and pulled it close; the teddy ursa Ren and Nora got her when she should have died. Collecting herself, she sat upright on her bed, hugging her knees and keeping the stuffed doll close to her chest, squeezing it tightly as if to try and force it into her being, as if that would help fill the void that was left behind after her friends abandoned her. After a few moments of soaking in her own misery, she set the doll to the side and looked around her room. The design of the large window gave her room the appearance of a cage, many vertical shadows running the height of the room. Sighing, she threw her bolero onto the floor and went into her bathroom to prepare for a shower, and after wiping her makeup off with a damp hand towel, leaned on the sink and bored into her reflection.

 

“So, what am I missing?” she asked noone as she stared into the mirror.

 

“Do you really want to know?” her reflection asked, making her jump backward, causing the visage to laugh. “Oh, don’t worry, I don’t bite. Maybe.”

 

“Shut up. So, what am I missing?”

 

“Well, let’s start with the basics. You’re a basic girl, right? First of all, there’s these things,” she said, raising up a pair of wings that looked similar to Weiss’. “Second, your personality is about as flat as your chest, or more, if that’s possible. And that’s not counting the fact you compensate for your lack of physical strength with overwhelming dependance on those around you. You don’t know what love is, because nobody ever actually loved you. They only tolerated you as long as you did what they expected of you. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Team Juniper, Team Coffee, Neptune, even Winter. They’re all the same. And when you showed yourself to be useless to them, after they gave you the opportunity to prove yourself, an opportunity Jacques wisely withheld from you, they left you. You could have just shown yourself to be a faunus to them and gotten it over with sooner, than being left alone for the entire rest of the year. Then again, maybe this was more merciful.”

 

“Maybe you’re right,” Weiss sighed, hanging her head.

 

“Of course I am,” she scoffed. “I’m you, remember? Just more… realistic. You were never meant to be anything other than a whipping girl. So, maybe this world would be better if you just stopped existing at all? It’s just a thought.”

 

“We’ll see,” Weiss said, turning away from her reflection. The following weeks all shared the same routine; breakfast at seven, lunch at noon, and dinner at five, all in her room, all separated by her lying in bed, quietly playing games on her scroll, or staring at it, hoping one of her old friends would call. Yang’s birthday passed, then Blake’s, then Ruby’s. She tried to call on each one, but nobody ever picked up. Her birthday passed next, and still no call or text. Winter hadn’t even come by to visit, and she hadn’t heard from her, either. The next years followed this routine, and nothing seemed to change. The isolation was almost maddening, if not for the regular visits from Klein. What would have been Graduation Day came and she watched the ceremony. Eventually, it was her team’s turn to give their graduation speeches, then Juniper’s. None of them ever mentioned her, even in passing. It was as if they forgot she even existed. She rewound the footage and found she had been replaced by someone Ruby’s age, or possibly younger. She played back the tape again, listening to their speeches again, resigning herself to being long forgotten and alone. She barely paid attention to their speeches until she heard Yang call out.

 

“Weiss!” the blonde exclaimed. The world went dark, and her eyes fluttered open to find she was back in the arena and on the ground, the blonde kneeling beside her, helping her support herself when she tried to sit upright and descended into a coughing fit, feeling a cloud of ash leave her body. “Weiss! Are you okay?”

 

“Did we win?” she asked feebly.

 

“Are you okay?” Yang pressed.

 

Weiss looked at her in mild confusion. “I… may not be singing for a while,” she said, giving a small smile, thankful the nightmare was finally over.

 

Yang smiled and said, “You know, I’m not sure that was proper form.”

 

“Oh, ha ha,” Weiss said sarcastically before falling into another coughing fit.

 

“What!?” a high-pitched voice shrieked. Weiss and Yang looked over to find a washed-out Neon. “We lost!? We lost!? Team Funky LOST!? That was… That was… amazing!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in celebration. “Oh my gosh, you guys were super crazy awesome! We should definitely party together sometime!” She turned to her teammate, who was just getting to his feet. “Right, Flynt?”

 

“That was a gutsy move, Schnee,” Flynt said. “I dig it.”

 

Footsteps off to the side brought their attention to Blake and Ruby running up to them, then kneeling across from Yang. “Good job, you two!” Blake exclaimed.

 

“Yeah!” Ruby agreed. “Weiss, you should maybe take a shower. And change your clothes.”

 

“Yeah, I figured,” she said, falling into yet another coughing fit. “I am the essence of burned, aren’t I?”

 

“Not gonna lie, you smell like a lawn mower,” Yang said, helping her to her feet. “Come on, Princess. Let’s go.”

 

Weiss scoffed, her dry throat making her go into yet another coughing fit. “ _ Princess? _ ”

 

“I mean, you tend to act like one a lot... well you used to. You dropped the bitchy attitude, for the most part,” Yang said as Ruby draped Weiss’ arm over her shoulders and started leading her off the field. “Sorry, didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.”

 

Weiss forcibly stopped Ruby and stared at Yang in disbelief. “...What?”  _ There’s no way she could know… Could she? _

 

“Figure of speech,” Ruby sighed, putting some pressure on Weiss’ lower back to get her walking again.

 

“Oh, right,” Weiss said. “Yeah, let’s go. A hot, water-based shower sounds nice.”


	18. A Day's Reprieve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You ever wonder what's in Oobleck's coffee? I know we sure are...

Weiss groaned and stretched, taking in the morning light before hopping out of bed and making her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Noticing the alarm clock read 9:30 AM, she gasped and made a break for the bathroom. Hurriedly running her toothbrush under the water and pouring toothpaste out of the tube, she stuck it in her mouth and began scrubbing furiously. After several seconds, she looked in the mirror and noticed a perplexed and mildly amused Yang standing just outside the doorway.

 

“What’s the rush?” Yang asked, still in her pajamas.

 

Weiss let out a frustrated groan and spit out the foaming toothpaste. “I forgot there weren’t any classes today because of the tournament, and I panicked.”

 

Yang chuckled slightly. “That happened to me when I slept in late the day after our Team match. You, however, were sleeping like a rock. So, how are you feeling?”

 

“Better, I guess. My aura came back up during my shower last night, and the minor burns I received healed fairly quickly,” Weiss said, looking over her face. “It’s amazing I didn’t get my eyebrows burned off. Or my hair.”

 

“That’s good to hear,” Yang replied. “Also, Blake mentioned something about feathers clogging the shower drain last night, so I got on Ruby about maintaining her wings better. That being said, if you notice them at some point when you’re in there, could you be a dear and remove them for the next person?”

 

“I can do that,” Weiss said, preparing a new helping of toothpaste.  _ Okay, this is just fantastic… Now I’m molting in the shower, and probably because my feathers got burned. Were they even mine? I’m usually pretty good about cleaning up after myself… _

 

“Hey!” Yang exclaimed, snapping her fingers in Weiss’ face a few times, bringing her back into focus. “You spaced out, right there. Everything alright?”

 

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Weiss assured, though she wasn’t sure if she was lying.

 

“You don’t sound so sure,” Yang said, cocking an eyebrow.

 

“I probably just need some coffee,” Weiss said. “Although… I don’t remember anything between walking off the field and arriving at the dorm, yesterday. Did I say anything stupid? Nonsensical? Did I just pass out?”

 

“I think you were running on autopilot. You probably went into shock after taking your baptism by fire,” Yang said.

 

Weiss gave a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Yang,” she said, walking into the kitchenette. Taking a large glass, she filled it, dumped the water into the coffee maker’s tank and put a new filter in place. Fetching the container of grounds out from a floor-level cabinet, she removed the lid and set it to the side.

 

“Yoo-hoo!” Yang exclaimed, waving a hand in front of Weiss’ face, giving the shorter girl a start. “Are you sure you’re okay, Ice Queen? You spaced out on me, again.”

 

“I’m sure I’ll be fine  _ after _ I’ve had my coffee,” Weiss said. “Only then, we can talk about whatever pre-conceived notion you think is bothering me. Kapisch?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Yang said. “But, if you start keeling over, I’m gonna sit you down.”

 

“Yes  _ Mother _ ,” Weiss snarked, dumping six heaping tablespoons of grounds into the filter before closing the lid, her thumb resting on the power button. “Would you like some coffee Yang? I know you’re not terribly fond of the way I make it.”

 

“Eh, why not? The doubles took more out of me than you’d think,” Yang said through a yawn. Despite covering her mouth, Weiss still caught a whiff of mint on her breath. Clearly, Yang was up long before she was.

 

“I think you’re pulling my leg,” Weiss mumbled as she set about adjusting the amounts of grounds and water before turning and heading for the closet. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get changed while this is brewing.”

 

“Suit yourself,” Yang said, joining her in the closet, both picking out an outfit. “Yeesh, extra strong brew, this morning?” she asked, turning to the coffee maker, the smell of especially concentrated coffee permeating the room.

 

“That’s my normal concentration,” Weiss said. “It helps me focus during morning classes. And by the sound of things, you can benefit from an extra strong brew.”

 

“Yeah, no,” Yang said, shaking her head. “We’ve been drinking coffee every morning all year, and I’ve never seen you add six  _ heaping _ tablespoons of grounds for a mug-and-a-half of coffee. What’s going on?”

 

“I’m fine, Yang,” Weiss growled. “Just tired. Maybe I took a harder hit yesterday than I thought, but I don’t need someone holding my hand.” No sooner had she reached the bathroom than she heard Yang speak again.

 

“You know, come to think of it,” Yang began, “I thought I heard you mumbling something about a caged bird?”

 

“What did I say?” Weiss asked as she stopped at the threshold, turning her head back to the blonde only enough to let her know she had her attention.

 

“There wasn’t much I could make out, but perhaps you know something?” Yang inquired.

 

“Can we talk about this after we get dressed?” Weiss asked, not wanting to remain in her nightgown any longer.

 

“Sure,” Yang nodded, “but I’ll hold you to it.”

 

Weiss nodded and entered the dorm bathroom, locking the door upon it clicking shut.  _ So, Yang wants to talk about some nonsense I mumbled, _ Weiss thought, removing her nightgown.  _ The only thing I can connect it to is the nightmare. How much does she know? _ Glancing at the mirror, she noticed a thick layer of down on her back, with some maturing feathers mixed in. Even her wing nubs had grown out a fresh coat of down to the point they looked comfortably soft. Returning her attention to her clothes, she quickly equipped her typical combat attire, save for the shoes. Reaching up under her bolero, she ran her fingers down her back, the plumage making an almost silky, soft layer that was almost like Zwei’s fur, but finer. Collecting her senses, she stepped out of the bathroom to find Yang also still needing to wear some shoes. Those could wait. It wasn’t like they  _ needed _ to go anywhere.

 

“So,” Yang began as Weiss headed to the coffee maker, pouring herself a mug, “what were you saying about a ‘caged bird’ yesterday?”

 

“Coffee, first,” Weiss said, taking a sip of her favorite, highly-concentrated breakfast beverage. Grabbing another mug from the cupboard, she held it out for Yang, expectantly.

 

“Aww, I have to make my own?” she whined.

 

“Not if you don’t want cream and sugar.”

 

“Like you’ll ever get me to drink it plain,” Yang quipped as she grabbed the mug. “Technically, you’ve already had coffee, so tell me. What’s eating you?” Yang asked again as she prepared her own drink.

 

“I need to get one of those mugs that tells you when you’re allowed to speak to me, but if you really want to know,” Weiss grumbled, her and Yang each taking a seat at the corner of the counter. “When I got knocked out, I had a… frighteningly-realistic nightmare. We lost against Flynt and Neon,” she continued, staring at her mug in shame and not looking up from it, “and next thing I knew, I was in my family’s mansion.” She took a sip of the hot, bitter liquid. “My brother, Whitley, was the first person I saw. He directed me to Father, who told me I was disinherited from the company and unenrolled from Beacon due to how badly I messed up during our Doubles round, and some… unsavory rumors being started about me. So, I went back to my room, because what else was I going to do?” She sighed and took another drink of her coffee. “I remember the light coming through my window making the room look like a cage, or a cell. Months passed, and the days felt like they dragged on… and  _ on _ . I tried calling each of you on your birthdays, but nobody picked up, and nobody called on my birthday... not even Winter. Eventually, graduation day rolled around, and I found out I had been replaced by someone about Ruby’s age. I felt as though I had been completely forgotten by everyone I’d ever known or loved. I felt trapped… and a level of loneliness I didn’t even think possible.” She took another drink of coffee in an effort to calm her nerves.

 

“Wow,” Yang said. “So, when did you wake up?”

 

“After I rewound the graduation ceremony and heard you call out to me,” Weiss said. “I’ll be honest. A few times, I thought about running myself through with Myrtenaster like disgraced warriors always did with their swords way back when. I guess crippling loneliness does things to your mind?”

 

“So, you’re telling me,” Yang paused, fiddling with her coffee as she tried to ensure she was understanding her teammate properly, “...you think we’d just flat-out  _ abandon _ you for losing a match!?”

 

Weiss hung her head, ashamed that her thought process went that direction when she was unconscious.

 

“Well, guess what?” the blonde asked, mock-threateningly. The feigned nature of her tone was lost on Weiss, who felt herself become lost in a mix of abject terror and morbid curiosity. “You’re stuck with us!” The heiress deflated with relief, releasing the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Listen, Ice Queen, we’re not going to just abandon you over something so petty. I mean, yeah, it would have sucked losing to a poptart and a guy who just likes to toot his horn-”

 

“Poptart?” Weiss questioned, quirking an eyebrow.

 

“Eh, Neon reminded me of an old video on InterTube. Loud, colorful--,”

 

“I think you mean obnoxious and disruptive,” Weiss mumbled.

 

“--and annoying,” Yang said dismissively. The pair broke down into giggles as they invariably said the same thing. “Either way, yeah, it would have sucked not making it to the quarterfinals, but you also took a huge gamble on your own health when you pushed Flynt into that flame geyser. You were covered in so much soot, that for a second, I thought you were completely charred! That’s not a fun image…”

 

“I don’t remember if I’ve told any of you this before, but in the environment I was raised in, anything less than perfect was met with scorn. Whenever I would bring home a ninety-nine or ninety-eight on a test or assignment, Father would sit me down for a lecture on how  _ we’re Schnees, and we’re supposed to be the absolute best _ . Anything less was… corporeal…”

 

“ _ ‘We’re Schnees, and we’re supposed to be the absolute best’, _ ” Yang echoed back with her nose pinched. For a heartbeat, the comical effect flattened any idea of Jacques being a threat to her as the resident Ice Queen broke down in giggles again. “Seriously though...Yikes,” Yang said. “Dad would sit me and Ruby down for a C, and were never really punished unless we actually  _ failed _ , which was already rare. Anyway, back on the topic of you; we’re not going to abandon you because you sacrificed yourself in a match trying to save one of us, and we are sure as hell  _ not _ going to let you kill yourself. You sound like Ruby from a few years ago, really. I managed to get her to open up about problems at school, and one of the things she admitted to was feeling trapped. I’d imagine you feel the same way, if your brain decided it was going to make the inside of your bedroom look like a freaking cage.”

 

“I mean… I guess that could be it? I haven’t really paid any mind to my own mental state, as I’ve been too distracted by schoolwork, the tournament, my sister visiting, and various other things…”

 

Yang gave a soft, warm smile. “It’s alright. You’ve had a hard life before Beacon, and I don’t expect to change your mindset overnight.” Her expression fell. “I can kind of relate to you, really…”

 

“I find that difficult to believe.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“How can you relate? You and your sister are a lot closer to each other than myself and Winter ever were, and your father actually… loves you…” Weiss said, feeling her heart sink just a little. She always knew Jacques hated her, and he wasn’t shy about showing it when there was no company, but saying it out loud hurt somehow. She took a large gulp of her coffee in hopes the caffeine would make her feel better.

At first, Yang only responded with silence, moving her mouth to speak a time or two, only to close it and thumb her chin. She gave a defeated sigh and, without taking her eyes off the countertop, said, “I’m not sure I can relate as much as I thought I could, but you’re not the only one with family issues.”

 

“Take your time,” Weiss said, finishing off her coffee. “You didn’t pressure me into telling you anything. You asked, and were willing to listen. Aside from Klein and Winter, I never had that until I came to Beacon. So, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t make you. It wouldn’t be fair.”

 

Yang looked up at her and smiled. “You know, I think Ruby’s starting to rub off on you a bit.” She took a slow, deep breath. “No, it just doesn’t compare. My mom at least had the decency to leave when she realized she didn’t want her family, or a domesticated lifestyle, or whatever her reasoning was. Why your father chooses to be a controlling, abusive… jerk, I just don’t get,” Yang said, glowering at what was left of her coffee. “And Summer… it wasn’t her fault…” Yang mumbled, her voice cracking.

 

Weiss reached out and wrapped both hands around the blonde’s. Yang brought her gaze up to meet the heiress’, and it looked like the always-sunny blonde was about to break down. “You don’t have to continue. I know I’m not the best for listening to the troubles of others, but… I like to think I’m getting better at actually being a teammate, and just a decent person in general. If you don’t want to talk about this now, then that’s fine.”

 

Yang finally started smiling again. “Thanks, Weiss. I hope you don’t mind me saying, you look nice with your hair down.”

 

“Father would have a fit,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes. “There’s a couple reasons it gets tied up; first, so it stays out of the way and doesn’t get dirty, and second, because he conditioned me to dress and act a certain way. He tried to make me a clone of himself, but I think he grew to resent me when it failed a second time, the first being Winter. You know what they say, though; third time’s the charm, and Whitley’s pouring it on at every turn.”

 

“I gave you a compliment, not a request for an explanation. But I guess that makes your brother his perfect little clone, huh?”

 

“Absolutely. Father is very…  _ dedicated  _ to his preferences,” Weiss huffed. “Anyway, have you seen Blake or Ruby?”

 

“No,” Yang said. “They were both gone when I woke up. I’m pretty sure Blake went to hang out with Sun, and Ruby-” A loud thud and what sounded like a roll in the dorm’s common area interrupted the blonde, and she made her way toward the noise to investigate, Weiss in tow, to find Ruby on her hands and knees on the carpet, out of breath. “There she is. Hey, Rubes, why not use the door?”

 

“Hi- agh… Hide me,” Ruby gasped. Weiss and Yang exchanged a perplexed look.

 

“What?” the blonde asked.

 

“Hide me!” Ruby ordered, voice barely getting above a whisper.

 

“Alright, come on,” Yang said, picking her exhausted sister up off the floor and leading her to the closet. “Weiss, get her some water.”

 

Doing as instructed, she ran to the fridge and snatched a chilled bottle of water. Hurrying back to the sisters, she handed the bottle off to Ruby. The leader grabbed the bottle, nodded in thanks, and quietly shut the door behind her.

 

“That was… weird,” Yang said.

 

“You don’t say,” Weiss sighed. “Any idea what that was about? You  _ are _ her sister, after all.”

 

Yang shook her head. “She’s never done that before. Don’t worry, she should come out of hiding before too long.” The sound of glass breaking, followed shortly by a woman screaming brought their attention to the floor below.

 

“Gods dammit, Nora! Why the fuck can’t you use the fucking door like a normal fucking person!?” Coco roared, the door for the lower floor sounding like it exploded. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!”

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone cuss like that,” Yang muttered, the pair listening to Coco shout obscenities as she could be heard running out of her dorm.

 

“That’s funny, considering you’re the second most vulgar person I’ve ever met,” Weiss said, folding her arms. Another door slammed, followed by a scream and more swearing from Coco.

 

“Thank you…?” Yang said, raising an eyebrow. What sounded like a small army could be heard rampaging its way through the dorm complex, specifically on their floor. “So… who’s the first?”

 

Weiss scoffed. “Take a wild-” Their dorm door exploded all over her and Ruby’s bunks, and a small ginger girl scurried into their dorm, her limbs twitching as she moved in a jerky and eerily disjointed manner. “...Nora?” The ginger in question zipped up to Weiss and lifted her by the collar of her bolero, locking eyes with the shorter girl, the creepiest, deranged grin stretching from ear-to-ear. The heiress couldn’t help but notice Nora’s pupils were completely dilated, a sliver of blue being what was left of her irises before falling away to a void.

 

“Where’sthebirdie?” Nora asked, her breath tainted with a concerningly familiar smell. Suddenly, Weiss found her feet back on the ground with Yang trying to remove the intruder from their dorm via a chokehold. The Heiress struggled in Nora’s grip, to no avail. However, it seemed that Yang finally got her attention as the ginger reached behind her and effortlessly flipped the blonde over her shoulder. Had she not landed flat on her back, the blonde probably would have been okay. Now free, Nora tore the sheets, mattresses, and box springs from all four beds. Before she knew it, the ginger had opened nearly all of her suitcases and dumped them on the floor. In seconds, she’d followed this up by raiding the bathroom, every cabinet, drawer, and large appliance in the kitchenette, all of their dressers, and even Blake’s bookshelf, before departing in a gust of wind.

 

“...What just happened?” Weiss questioned, starting slightly as Yang suddenly inhaled a large quantity of air, Zwei trotting up to check on the blonde.

 

“The hell if I know,” Yang groaned, finally sitting up as Coco strutted by, sparing only a short glance into their dorm before scoffing and shaking her head. “I’m more upset that I was bested by a midget.”

 

“You do realize I’m even shorter than her, right?” Weiss asked, slightly agitated.

 

“I wasn’t excluding you,” Yang said, snickering. 

 

“Oh, ha ha,” Weiss scoffed. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t freeze you.”

 

“Witnesses,” Yang said, gesturing to the door as a herd of students power-walked past the dorm, several taking a glance inside. Weiss could have sworn she saw Cardin and Neon in the mix.

 

“Don’t worry, they won’t be here long,” Weiss assured her as the group began thinning out. 

 

“Nora!” Ren called out, stumbling into view and collapsing from exhaustion.

 

“Looks like he will be,” Yang said, gesturing to the green-clad ninja.

 

“Not if he ran himself to death,” Weiss said, receiving a thumb’s-up from the thoroughly exhausted boy laying face-down on the carpet. “Nevermind.”

 

“Let’s check out the damage she did to Coffee’s dorm,” Yang said, finally getting to her feet.

 

Weiss strutted over to the window and peered down to the window sill below. “I think I know a shorter way.”

 

“You’re not really thinking about jumping down are- oh,” Yang said, looking to see Weiss climbing out of the window and standing on a glyph she conjured.

 

“Coming?”

 

“Sure,” Yang said, clambering out the portal to join her teammate on the glyph. “Just don’t space out. I don’t exactly feel like falling 45 feet.” She looked over to see Weiss staring straight ahead with a blank expression on her face. “Uh… Weiss?”

 

The illusion broke when Weiss was no longer able to suppress some giggles. “Fine, I’ll only drop us ten feet,” she said, before the glyph dissipated, dropping both of them onto a second one, putting them level with CFVY’s window. Leaning in close to survey the damage, Velvet sat on the bathroom floor, petrified and only adorned in a towel. Yatsuhashi and Fox sat drinking what smelled like coffee, their demeanor either apathetic or defeated while the surrounding area resembled the aftermath of a fight between two Ursai. “What happened here?”

 

“Nora,” Yatsuhashi groaned.

 

“Yeah, we’ve noticed,”  Yang deadpanned. “She destroyed our dorm, too.”

 

“From what I understand,” Fox began, “she managed to jump through the window and into our dorm, terrorized Velvet while tearing the place apart, all the while crying for a bird.” He paused. “That said, I feel verbalizing these events has made me significantly less intelligent.”

 

“But didn’t you see anything?” Yang asked. Everyone looked at her incredulously, the nature of the question having apparently been enough to bring Velvet past whatever trauma Nora inflicted on her.

 

“Did.... did you actually forget?” Velvet asked, sounding surprised.

 

“Forget what?”

 

“He’s blind!” Weiss chided, striking Yang in the arm.

 

“Oh!” Yang exclaimed, turning beet red. “I straight-up thought you just had white eyes…” Yatsuhashi could be heard choking on his drink.

 

“I... have never heard that one,” Fox said. He turned his head away and up. “I suggest you leave. Coco is already furious with Nora, and there will be hell to pay if she catches you here in her current state of mind.”

 

“Good idea,” Yang said. “I hope this all blows over soon enough.” The pair jumped in unison, Weiss conjuring a second glyph about level with their sill to allow easy entry back through the portal, or as easy as a destroyed room allowed.

 

“So,” Yang began, pausing and cringing, “what now?”

 

“You should call Blake and see if she wants to clean up her books, or if we should have Ruby do it. I’ll find out if Jaune and Pyrrha are aware of the havoc their teammate is wreaking on the dorms. Then I’ll have to call Professor Goodwitch, if nobody else already has,” Weiss sighed, flicking through her scroll. She sighed and muttered, “Nora, what ever did you get into...?” She glanced back at Ren, to find him sound asleep on the hallway floor. “And maybe we should move Ren so he doesn’t become someone's doormat.”

\-----------

After giving statements to Goodwitch and Ozpin, and having to listen to a rant from Oobleck about wasted coffee, the team spent the morning cleaning up their dorm. Nora never made a reappearance despite Ren, Jaune, and Pyrrha also making repairs to most of their dorm. Once sufficient repairs had been made, the team congratulated each other and voted on heading to the arena, where they noticed a very present lack of a certain hyperactive ginger.

 

“So… what do you think ever became of Nora?” Yang asked, Ruby sitting between her and Weiss, and Blake on the other side of Yang.

 

“Professor Goodwitch laid into her after her rampage was finished,” Jaune said from behind, startling the team, who turned to face him. “She’s now serving three weeks detention, has to write a ten-page essay about why you shouldn’t steal Dr. Oobleck’s coffee, and mine and Pyrrha’s families are paying for everything Goodwitch couldn’t repair!” He slumped into his seat beside Ren.

 

“Life just… gets in the way, sometimes,” Ren said.

 

“Oh,” Yang said. “Is she still competing?”

 

“They debated disqualifying her, but Ozpin somehow convinced them to let her participate in the Doubles,” Jaune replied.

 

Yang settled back down into her seat, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. “Now I wanna know how he did it.”

 

“Be mindful of what you ask for,” Pyrrha chided as the four turned to look over their shoulders. “We have a saying in Argus; ‘You may get what you want, but you may not want what you get’.”

 

“Uh, what?” Ruby asked, the subject a little deeper than she could comprehend.

 

Blake leaned forward to catch Ruby’s eye. “You want to become a Huntress and fight Grimm, right?” Ruby nodded, her goal having been stated multiple times in the past. “What if you run into one that’s too big for  _ just _ you? What if you didn’t know about a certain ability that costs you, or those around you, their lives? In all scenarios, you technically get your wish.”

 

“That seems like a rather… dark, if accurate perspective,” Pyrrha said.

 

“Did you expect anything else? This is Blake we’re talking about, after all,” Yang said.

 

“I can hear you, you know,” Blake griped.

 

"Going into the last few days of the tournament, we’d like to thank all of the staff and attendees for refraining from giving Miss Valkyrie anything stronger than a soda,” Oobleck said from his spot in the booth.

 

"Yes, I heard that earlier today, she started chasing another student for no apparent reason after consuming an energy drink,” Port concurred.

 

"That was my coffee,” Oobleck corrected, grumbling. “Besides that, the video team has been kind enough to provide footage of various other damages."

 

“Oh, my, god,” Yang gasped as the entire stadium turned their attention to the screen, showing several felled trees, destroyed benches, damaged statues, and Team CFVY’s broken dorm window. Weiss felt her eyelids becoming heavy. “Hey, Ice Queen, you doing okay?”

 

“Oh, yeah, I’m… I’m fine,” Weiss assured, biting back a yawn as she fought to stay awake while Port announced the contenders.

 

“Getting back onto the topic of fights,” Port began, “we have, for our first round of Doubles matches today, Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias of Team Sun…” 

Darkness consumed her, and as if she had blinked, found herself in a field of white. A thin fog shrouded more distant objects, though she could make out countless pillars reaching far into the sky around her, linked to each other by rings, a vertical one in every space between the rings wrapping around the circle of pillars. A gust of wind washed away the fog and turned her focus to a girl with wild, long white hair that obscured half of her face, a tattered, backless dress that left her shoulders exposed, and a large pair of black-spotted white wings.

 

“And, you are…?” Weiss asked, confuddled. The woman said nothing, and instead raised a rapier level with Weiss’ face, the heiress drawing Myrtenaster in response. Without warning, the woman charged. Weiss deflected the point of her sword, though a boot to the face proved it was only a feint as Weiss was sent skidding across the floor. Her opponent flared the faux-Myrtenaster and twirled, summoning several glyphs around them. After launching herself clear of an incoming ice shard, she was propelled in the opposite direction by a blast of wind, then took a fireball to the back and was sent hurtling toward her opponent. She prepared Myrtenaster for a strike, then thrust forward before her blade was redirected and she contorted her body, flipping through the air to avoid a secondary strike. She landed several yards from her opponent, and received a pair of boots to the face as soon as she had turned around, her opponent kicking off her and sending her sprawling across the ground once more. Whoever this look-alike copycat was, her fighting style was precise, yet erratic; graceful, but brutal.

 

“How can you believe you are so deserving, when you can’t even defeat an animal?” a man’s voice rang out. It was so familiar, right down to the condescending tone.

 

Clambering to her feet, she leveled Myrtenaster at her opponent with a shaky hand and propelled herself forward on a glyph trail, the weathered, winged copy of herself effortlessly side-stepping her assault and roundhouse kicking her in the abdomen, launching her across the ground once more with the sound of glass breaking. A pair of battleworn, knee-high boots much like the ones she was wearing appeared before her, and the sensation of strings pulling at her body forced her to sit upright on her skinned knees. Whatever this ground was made of, it had apparently given her bad road rash, as much of her body ached and burned from the impact. Weiss looked back at her opponent, who remained completely stoic as the familiar chime of a summoned glyph filled the air.

 

“...Why?” Weiss choked, feeling tears starting to fall as the copy stood before her, still grasping the strings she used to pull her up.

 

The copy lightly jerked the various strings and wires, each connected to a different piece of Weiss’ body. Her lips moved as if she were talking, though no sound came out as she stared coldly into Weiss’ eyes. She knew that look; an intense hatred reserved for a particular person or thing. She released her hold on the strings and stepped aside. A translucent sword launched out of the glyph, the point making a dive for her face. She jolted awake with a gasp, heart pounding in her ears and clothes damp with sweat. After patting herself down, she sighed with relief and collapsed into the chair at the realization she was still in Amity Colosseum.

 

“That one looked a bit rough,” Yang said, popping a popcorn kernel into her mouth; Ruby, for some reason, making a dive for an unpopped kernel despite the bag of sunflower seeds in her lap. “Welcome back, by the way.”

 

She looked down at the arena floor. Pyrrha and Nora were celebrating their victory; the latter doing so rather half-heartedly. “How many-”

 

“Three,” Yang said, dropping a small handful of unpopped kernels into an excited Ruby’s hands. “I hope you’re wrong about the test you mentioned on the first day, because it’s looking like you might fail.”

 

“Outstanding,” Weiss sighed, straightening her posture. “Just what I need to hear.”

 

“Sorry,” Yang said, shoveling more popcorn into her mouth. “Maybe we should return to the dorm? I mean, you look exhausted.”

 

“I suppose that might not be a terrible idea,” Weiss said, standing with the sisters to leave while Blake stayed with Sun and bid them farewell.

\------------

Weiss awoke with a start on her bed, the nightmare from the Colosseum having repeated itself. Ruby, Yang, and Blake were all crowded around the television, with the latter being the only one completely stationary, while the other two engaged in banter. Weiss quietly observed as the yellow and red sports cars crossed the finish line almost simultaneously, Ruby groaning in defeat as the game declared Yang the winner by only a few thousandths of a second.

 

“What’s going on?” Weiss asked once the commotion died down despite being able to accurately guess what was happening.

 

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” Yang said, not turning from the screen. “Playing a game.”

 

“Did we wake you?” Ruby asked. She looked guilty and her wings drooped. “I'm sorry.”

 

“You're fine, I just woke up,” Weiss grumbled. “Aren't you supposed to be resting for your next match, Yang?”

 

“Pfft. It's not even time for dinner! Besides, Blake sucks at this game,” Yang said, mildly disappointed. “It's like she's not even trying!”

 

“Just because you glued the controller to my hands, it doesn't mean I want to play,” Blake growled, getting up and walking to the kitchenette, controller still stuck to her hands. Yang shot to her feet when she heard Blake turn on the water.

 

“Blake, no! Don't run the controller under the sink!” the blonde shouted.

 

“Then get me some kind of solvent or a knife to get this thing unstuck from my hands!” Blake ordered.

 

“Alright, alright, cam down. I think a knife is a little extreme, though…”

 

“I don’t care if you think it’s extreme! I want this thing off!” Blake growled. Weiss and Ruby looked on in shock as her bow folded back. Very rarely was Blake in such a bad mood that her ears would betray themselves in their bindings.

 

“Sooo… wanna play a round?” Ruby offered, gesturing to the entertainment center as a whole while Blake and Yang continued bickering in the kitchenette. “Or, we could watch matches, or… study…” She stopped herself and looked confused. “Wait, we don’t have anything we know we have to study for, do we?”

 

“I don’t know of any upcoming assignments, but I did hear a rumor of a test or set of assignments based on the tournament,” Weiss supplied. Noticing Ruby begin to pout, she sighed and continued, “I guess I'll play  _ one _ round.”

 

“Awesome!” Ruby cheered, holding out the controller as Weiss half-reluctantly removed herself from her bed.

 

“So, how do I play this?” Weiss asked. Ruby happily humored her, backing out to the Controls menu for the heiress to study. Upon finishing, the avian leader selected a track, which brought them to a menu for their vehicles, right about the same time a hefty chunk of plastic clattered onto a countertop.

 

“Blake?” Yang called from the kitchenette as Blake stormed past the pair at the console. “Blake, where are you going?” She ran into the common area, clutching a controller with dried, flaking glue on the handles.

 

“The library,” she grumbled, “so I can read in peace.” She noticed Weiss and quirked an eyebrow.

 

“I agreed to one race,” Weiss sighed, turning her attention from the cat to the television. “One.”

 

“Whatever,” Blake huffed before leaving the dorm.

 

The three sat in a tense silence following Blake’s absence. “You should probably apologize to her before your match,” Weiss suggested.

\---------

The library was unusually quiet, to the point of stagnation. Just the way Blake liked it as she read through the fourth installment of one of her favorite series’. Normally, she’d pick up a fly buzzing around on the other side of the chamber, but it seemed even the flies got lonely without people, making the only source of sound the air coming from the vents, which quickly blended with the overwhelming silence of the space. The only other disturbance was when someone, somewhere in the library, would turn a page or scratch their pen or pencil on some paper. For no discernible reason, Blake peered up from her book to find an uncharacteristically downcast Nora slowly writing something out on loose-leaf paper. Curious, the cat grabbed her book and headed over to the ginger.

 

“Would you mind if I sat here?” Blake asked quietly. Nora, only sparing her a glance before turning her attention back to the papers before her, merely shrugged. Blake analysed the papers as she took a seat, and quickly deduced they were somehow related to the incident between her and Ruby the other members of their respective teams told her about. “What are you working on? Overdue assignment?”

 

Nora gave a depressed, defeated sigh. “Nothing I did woke me up this morning, and I got desperate, so I… I drank all of Dr. Oobleck’s coffee just so I wouldn’t be half-asleep during our match and now everything’s a mess…”

 

“A mess?” Blake inquired.

 

“Apparently, I got so hopped up on caffeine, I destroyed a lot of school property in an effort to try and catch Ruby,” Nora droned, not diverting her attention from the paper as her pencil trudged across its surface. “I don’t know what I was thinking… I don’t think I  _ was _ thinking!” She threw her hands out between them in frustration before resting her forehead on them and staring through her paperwork. “I just…  _ did _ ! Now Team Coffee’s mad at me, and Jaune’s and Pyrrha’s families have to pay for damages. I assaulted Yang, terrorized Weiss, Velvet, and Ruby… Now, I have to write a long essay on why I shouldn’t steal Dr. Oobleck’s coffee, serve three weeks of detention, and everything’s just a mess…”

 

“Wow,” Blake said. “I would suggest apologizing to everyone about what happened this morning, Ruby espe-”

 

“No!” Nora exclaimed, resulting in Blake wincing in pain. “Sorry… I just can’t.” The ginger grabbed her papers and pencils and made for the door, but a forceful hand grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

 

“This isn’t going to get any better for anyone until you grow a spine and apologize,” Blake said sternly.

 

“You are aware of Coco’s reputation, right? She might  _ shoot  _ me!”

 

“You say it like she hasn’t already tried to do exactly that in class.” Blake gave an exasperated sigh. “She won’t. You’re just over-reacting. If you won’t face her in person, then let’s just call,” she said, taking out her scroll.

\----------

“Oh, come on…!” Weiss whined, having come in last place yet again, a full three seconds behind the sisters.

 

“It would probably help if you learned racing lines and stopped running into walls and tire bundles,” Yang said. “I don’t suppose you want another try?”

 

“I really want to know how the two of you roped me into playing,” she paused and did some quick math in her head, “...17 more races than I had agreed to?”

 

“We didn’t,” Ruby said. “You… wanted to keep playing.”

 

“Do I smell a sore loser?” Yang asked smugly.

 

“I am not a sore loser, you two are just cheating!”

 

“Wow, someone’s in denial!” Yang chuckled.

 

“You’re getting better with each race,” Ruby said. “You were a lot closer that time than the last.”

 

“A two-second difference is a lot?” Weiss asked. Ruby and Yang looked at each other, unsure whether or not they should laugh.

 

“Well, when you’re going almost 200, yeah, it kinda is,” Yang offered. A scroll started ringing, and Weiss and Yang, recognizing the custom electronic dubstep ringtone, turned to Ruby expectantly.

 

“What?” she asked. 

 

_ “I know this ninja cat girl, always thinkin’ ‘bout her...”  _ She snatched her scroll off the entertainment center and fumbled with the device while the lyrics continued _ , “And when she says hi to me, butterflies go right through me-”  _

 

“Can I ask what the story behind that is?” Weiss asked.

 

“Uh, um… What’s up, Blake? Did something bad happen?”

 

“No, nothing bad happened,” Blake replied. “On a scale of one through ten, how scared are you of Nora, right now?”

 

“What was that about?” Weiss asked Yang.

 

“If you really want to know, I’m  _ still _ molting,” she said, lifting one of her wings. A few feathers fell off and onto the floor, while others were looking disheveled. “So… thirty?”

 

“She wants to be aloof and mysterious… just like our wonderfully-absent teammate,” Yang answered.

 

“So, she wants to be a loner?”

 

“Yep.” She brought out her scroll and began typing a message.

 

“Umm… hi, Ruby-” Nora’s thought was cut short by a panicked squeak, the avian leader lunging into her bed from her seat at the console so quickly, her scroll spun several times on its way down to the floor.

 

“Ruby,” Weiss began, brushing some of her partner’s feathers out of her hair and off her dress before picking her scroll up off the floor, “Nora’s just trying to talk to you over your scroll. She’s probably not even in the same building!”

 

“I don’t care!” Ruby protested, making a dive for the window. Yang, being quick on her feet, grabbed their leader by the ankles and struggled to not to get dragged out the window behind her. Weiss summoned a glyph to help keep Yang grounded, at least until Ruby wore herself out or they got some backup. Glancing at the blonde’s scroll, which was now on the dorm floor, she noticed a message had yet to be sent to someone, though she didn’t care to read to who.

 

“Hey, Blake? I think we could use some help, like now,” Weiss said, feeling her aura depleting at an alarming rate from the strain of Ruby trying to pull her sister off the glyph. Jumping into action, Weiss wrapped her arms around the blonde’s waist before her glyph dissipated and, using what comparatively little strength she had, kept herself and the blonde from being pulled out the fourth floor window by an impressively-strong Ruby. Her heels began to slip on the sill, one foot being forced forward from the leverage. What felt like an eternity of a bizarre game of tug-of-war, though was probably only a few minutes, ended with Weiss losing her footing, then being brought back down onto the carpet by more than one pair of strong hands. After the blurs of yellow, black and red passed, Weiss found herself staring up at Blake and Nora, the latter of which seemed to have come down off her morning high. “Can we… not cut it that close next time?” Weiss groaned.

 

“No promises,” Blake said. “Ruby, before you run off, Nora has something she wants to say.”

 

The ginger scratched the back of her head, and her face turned red with shame and humiliation. “I’m so…  _ so _ sorry for this morning. I just wanted something to wake me up, so I stole Dr. Oobleck’s coffee, and it got way out of hand…”

 

“As long as you’re sober, and you promise to  _ never  _ scare me like that again, apology accepted,” Ruby said, peeking out from behind a disgruntled big sister.

 

“I promise,” Nora replied, a bit less embarrassed.

 

“And I guess I should probably apologize for gluing a controller to your hands, Blake,” Yang said, cringing while looking down and away. The cat waited for her partner to actually look at her before giving an accepting nod.

 

“You did… what?” Nora inquired.

 

“I was bored, so I glued a video game controller to Blake’s hands to try and make her sit down and play a video game with us. It… didn’t work.”

 

Nora’s eyes lit up. “That’s hilarious! I need to tell the others about this!” Her expression quickly turned from joy to horror. “I left my essay in the library!” Before anyone could raise any questions, she sprinted out of the dorm.

 

Blake picked the scroll up off the floor and then looked at the sisters. “So, what were you texting me about, Yang?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, this chapter was so hard to write, it took us all of the two months to get it written and straightened up. Well, hiatus is over, so it looks like, even with the 12-13 hour days we've been working lately due to an insane workload, we'll hopefully be back to normal schedule. - No_Count


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